Accepting Darkness
by Rinichey
Summary: Left without their memories, Sans and Papyrus find themselves as skeletal children in the care of Gaster. The past however has not let go of the children, and every new turn seems to give an answer neither of them knew they had questions to. It's up to both on whether to be consumed by their past, or move on towards the future. (Sequel to Fading Light)
1. Level -1

_So long as a monster child resides upon the surface, it does not matter what happens to it. Eventually, they all find their way back to their kind and accept the darkness._

 **Level -1**

"Tremble before the Great Papyrus!" A young, skeleton boy proclaimed to the snowy world around him. His feet were lost in a cold, powdery blanket of snow, but this did not stop the boy from throwing his arms into the air beside his marvelous creation; himself.

The skeleton was bundled up in a bright red snow jacket, complete with red mittens, black snow pants, red snow boots and a snuggly red, knitted hat atop his head, complete with a white puff of yarn on top of the beanie. Such warm clothes did nothing to restrict the skeleton's movement as he gazed over to a spot a few feet away from him. "Come on, Sans!"

"I'm almost done, Papyrus!" Sans called over his shoulder while he worked with the snow in front of him. Unlike his brother, whose skull was hinged at the cheek bones to open his mouth, Sans' mouth was etched onto his skull and unable to open, as far as he could tell.

He wore a matching winter outfit just like Papyrus' except instead of red it was replaced with a calming blue. His snow boots were the only thing to not match up with the rest of his outfit as they were bright yellow, but the fashion statement they proclaimed didn't seem to bother Sans.

Papyrus dropped his arms while his eye sockets narrowed, tilting his body back and forth to try and catch a glimpse of what was in front of Sans. His voice was high-pitched and young, full of curiosity and wonder. "What's taking so long?"

"I'm just adding some finishing touches." Sans replied, his voice adolescent yet down to earth and calming. Patting one spot of snow in particular, Sans allowed himself to stand tall. "It's done!"

"Finally." Papyrus swiftly moved his hands to his hips, thrusting his chest out. "What horrible beast awaits to fight the Great Papyrus?"

Papyrus quickly glanced at the snow sculpture beside him, which was a fairly decent snowman with icicles for arms and a hole in his face for the nose hole. Papyrus had tried to carve a six-pack into the snowman but opted against it when all it was doing was making just a big hole in the snowman's stomach.

Sans turned around to look at Papyrus, showing off his giddy smile. "Here it comes, Pap. You ready?"

Papyrus narrowed his eye sockets, running behind his snowman while grabbing the icicles and moving them up and down. "The Great Papyrus was born ready for this challenge! Come at me, fiend!"

"Alright, here they come!" Sans took a large step to the side, allowing whatever beast laid behind him to stand tall and oppose the warrior of snow.

It was a snow rock.

Papyrus lifted his head a bit. "You made a rock?"

"Not just any rock." Sans glanced down at his small and stubby creation, which was literally just a pile of snow with the word 'rock' carved into it. "This rock is made of snow."

Papyrus frowned. "Sans! That's not a beast!"

"It's a real beast if it gets inside your snowsuit." Sans teased, his smile growing as he watched Papyrus fume in his spot.

"Sans, Papyrus."

The two young skeletons looked up from their play-time in the snow when they heard the front door to the house they stood in front of open. A tall and very skinny skeleton poked his head outside, surveying what the two had done quickly. "Dinner is almost ready. Come inside and wash up before it gets cold."

"But Uncle Gaster." Papyrus whined, stepping out from behind his snow sculpture. "Sans didn't make a hideous beast for my snow warrior to fight!"

"I'm certain Sans can make a new enemy for you to fight tomorrow. Now come inside and no whining." Gaster glanced over to Sans before back at Papyrus, opening the door a little more to let them in.

Papyrus lightly grumbled but didn't linger on it for too long, hopping inside the house while Sans slowly trudged his way over. He looked up to Gaster who simply gave a hesitant smile back down, eyes going back up to look at the snowman Papyrus had built a few days ago outside of their house. It was Papyrus, Sans, and him all lined up and wearing beanies according to their color, which Gaster kept reminding himself to bring in someday but never got around to it.

When both boys were inside Gaster slowly closed the door behind him, keeping an eye on them so that they didn't scamper into the house without taking off their snow-boots and jackets first. A rug was placed behind the door to catch water from the melting snow as well as a coat hanger off to the side where jackets could be hung and forgotten. While there were a few pegs at the very top for Gaster to use easily, he made sure to have a few pegs down below where Sans and Papyrus could hang their jackets easily, which they did at the moment.

The rest of the house was covered in a blue carpet with purple waves going vertical except for the kitchen, which was checkered tiled. The living room in particular had a few bookshelves lined alongside the west wall, where Gaster shelved everything from his favorite reads to scripts and journals he was writing in on his most recent projects. The two bottom shelves had been dedicated to Papyrus and Sans, which for the moment was empty save for a few coloring books, light novels and children's stories.

In the middle of the living room was a long, green couch that could easily hold three people, and across from it was a fairly decent sized box tv, complete with an antenna and stand. To the east of the door was a small room where a large wooden table was placed and four wooden chairs were sat around it. A vase of golden flowers sat in the center of the table for decoration, though Sans always felt a little uncomfortable when staring at them for too long.

Up the stairs there were three wooden doors, with the door closest to the staircase being Sans and Papyrus' room, then Gaster's bedroom and the last door being the study. A few photos were hung on the wall in between doors and off to the side, but the biggest picture was a framed, professional photo of Gaster sitting with Sans and Papyrus in his lap, all dressed nice and smiling into the camera.

After sitting down to take off his snow boots Papyrus jumped off of the rug and ran into the living room, wiggling his little body. "What are we having for dinner Uncle Gaster? Is it spaghetti?"

"Not tonight, Papyrus." Gaster let out a little chuckle at all the adrenaline Papyrus still had, his gaze wandering over to Sans who was taking his time to unbuckle his snow boots.

While Gaster moved on over to the kitchen Papyrus ran back over for his brother, tugging on one arm. "Come on, Sans! You're too slow!"

"Dinner won't run off, Pap." Sans remarked as he took his arm out of Papyrus' grasp. He smiled to himself while staring down at his boots. "Now the refrigerator, that might run off."

"Sans!" Sans giggled as he heard his brother get annoyed, taking the moment to stand up and place his boots next to the coat hanger. Just as he set them down Papyrus had already taken Sans' hand, pulling him across the living room and over to the dining room at mach 1. "Come on! Come on!"

"Ah ah!" Gaster poked his head outside of the kitchen, giving Papyrus a stern look. "Wash your hands first before sitting at the table for dinner."

Papyrus balanced himself on one foot from freezing himself mid-run, dropping his other leg and arms. "Alright."

"You want to eat with dirty hands?" Sans joked while still holding Papyrus' hand. He used it to lead Papyrus over to the kitchen, where the two could hear something bubbling and a metal lid clattering against the metal pot.

"Nah, I just want to eat!" Papyrus caught up to Sans' walk by the time the two entered the kitchen. It was a small space but that was only because Gaster had filled it with an oven with a stovetop, a refrigerator, a sink, a broken microwave, which he was still tinkering with and needed to move, and a long island on the east wall. The island was almost height level with the window overlooking the snow-ridden world as snowflakes started to fall gently through the sky.

Sans moved over to a little corner in the room to fetch Papyrus' and his stools, with each one picking up their respective stool and walking over to the sink. For the moment Gaster stood near the stovetop as he held the metal lid in one hand, stirring the bubbling concoction with a ladle in the other.

He smiled to see Sans and Papyrus use their stools to get height level with the sink, with Sans turning it on while Papyrus dispensed the soap bar. Tiny hand bones clacked and clicked together as they washed their hands.

After turning off the water and sharing the drying cloth, Papyrus hopped down from his stool and scurried back over to the dining table. "Dinner time!"

Gaster turned his head and frowned just as Papyrus had left the kitchen. "You forgot to put away your stool, Papyrus!"

"It's ok." Sans was already picking up his stool when Gaster looked down at him. He smiled while grabbing Papyrus' stool and placing it atop his. "I can put both away."

"Thank you, Sans." Gaster turned his head back to the meal he was preparing in a large, metal pot, stirring gently through the thick mixture with his ladle. "Leftover soup is just about done cooking."

"What's the ingredients this time?" Sans set down the stools in their corner before briskly walking over to where Gaster stood. He couldn't tilt his head high enough even if he wanted to see what was inside the pot.

Gaster turned half of his attention over to Sans, a hesitant smile on his face. "Well, we have the rest of the carrots, mushrooms, celery and potatoes as well as some garlic and the last bit of squirrel meat Mrs. Flame was nice enough to share with us."

"I don't like squirrel meat." Sans shuddered at the thought of eating the meat again.

"Well we need to make a run for the grocery store tomorrow so you know how this goes. We eat up what's left in the pantry and refrigerator that'll spoil as leftover soup." Gaster absentmindedly clicked off the heat on the stovetop, bringing out the ladle to taste a sip.

"Hmm. Needs something." Gaster eyeballed the kitchen for a second before shrugging his shoulders. "Nothing a bit of bread won't solve."

"Come on, Sans!" Gaster and Sans turned their heads over to the dining room, hearing Papyrus shout from his seat. "You're such a lazy bone!"

Sans turned his head back to Gaster who laughed lightly, pointing a finger at the pot as it took on a blue hue, then floated off to the side. "Go join your brother at the table. I'll be there shortly."

Nodding his head lightly, Sans made his way back over to the dinner table to see Papyrus sitting on the side. He waved his hand in the air for Sans to come over, who simply pulled out his chair, which had some padding to help him reach the table better, and took a seat.

"You boys ready to eat?" Gaster wasn't far behind by the time Sans sat down, who walked into the dining room with the metal pot, a small towel and half a loaf of bread all hovering behind him. He took his place at the front of the table, allowing the towel to fold itself while he gently set down the pot of soup on top of it. The bread was torn into three manageable chunks and hovered above each bowl while the ladle floated out of the pot to serve the soup.

Papyrus awed at the soup falling into his bowl, placing both of his hands on the table. "Leftover soup!"

"Yay." Sans weakly muttered, keeping track of where the squirrel meat fell into his bowl.

Gaster lightly chucked to Papyrus' enthusiasm, allowing the blue hue to disperse over the items and allowing the bread to plop into the soup. "Make sure you eat everything. Nothing goes to waste."

Papyrus snatched for his spoon, watching Sans sidle his spoon through the soup so as to not get any squirrel chunks. "Does this mean we're going to the store tomorrow?"

"Have we ever had Leftover soup and not gone to the store?" Gaster idly played back, stirring his soup with his spoon to allow the steam to vent quicker.

He closed his eyes for a moment. "I was just informed earlier today that his Majesty will be joining us for dinner tomorrow."

"The King?" Sans took two of his fingers to the cheekbone next to his teeth, opening a small gap to allow the soup to get inside while gazing at Papyrus. "I don't think we've met him."

"You haven't." Gaster opened his eye sockets to address Sans and Papyrus. "He wanted to give you two time to acclimate to your new surroundings and home. Not only will he be sharing dinner with us, but he would like to introduce himself."

"Wowie, the King himself at our house!" Papyrus chewed on the gamy squirrel meat without a second thought, swallowing his bite of soup. "This must be an honor!"

His eyes grew star-struck, slamming his fists onto the table and staring at Sans. "Do you think he'll knight us?!"

Gaster flinched lightly to the slam, eyeing Papyrus who quickly took his fists off the table. "No, he won't be coming for that. His Majesty loves all of his subjects and makes it his goal to get to know each and everyone."

Papyrus brought his hand with the spoon up to his lower jaw, scrutinizing the table cloth beneath him. "The King is coming to our abode. I must do something to celebrate his arrival."

Eyes lighting up, Papyrus threw his spoon up into the air, placing a hand on the table while standing atop his seat. "I shall sculpt a snowman of himself for all of Snowdin to see!"

Sans lightly chuckled when bits of soup flew off of the spoon and rained down onto the table, but Gaster was less enthusiastic. He frowned at Papyrus, who quickly recoiled his hands and sat back down. "S-Sorry Uncle Gaster…"

Gaster sighed, unwrapping his napkin to clean off the tablecloth with. "It's alright, Papyrus."

He gave Papyrus a gentle smile to show he wasn't upset. "I'm sure the King would love to see that. But you'll have to make it before we go on our grocery run tomorrow, ok?"

Papyrus' eyes lit up, nodding his head reverently. "Don't you worry Uncle Gaster, the King will be so amazed at my sculpting skills that he'll never want to leave!"

He then pointed a bony finger at Sans. "And you're going to help me Sans! And you better destroy that snow-rock and make a really good monster for my snowman to fight! That way the King also knows that I, the Great Papyrus, do not run from a fight!"

"Alright." Sans said with a smile, allowing himself to get a bit excited on the fact that the King of their people would be joining them for supper. His mind ran wild with all the different possibilities of who this monster could be.

Gaster leaned back in his chair when one of his pockets vibrated. He quickly pulled out his black and white pager, which halted Sans and Papyrus' fun.

Gaster stayed silent for a moment before standing up from his seat. "I am needed at the moment."

The blue hue came once again as the pot, the towel and Gaster's bowl was lifted into the air. He gave an apologetic smile to Sans and Papyrus. "My assistant needs some guidance on one of her projects."

Sans frowned. "I thought you were on sabbatical from work for a year."

"I am." Gaster walked out of the dining room, setting the pot and towel back into the kitchen to clean later while keeping his bowl beside him. "But I am not going to the lab, am I? I will be in my study if you two need me, but for the moment I wish to not be disturbed."

Papyrus gave a melancholy smile as they both watched Gaster climb the stairs. "Alright Uncle Gaster."

"Make sure you clean your bowls and then head to the bed. I will be in later to read you a story." Gaster's voice wafted from the second floor before the sound of a door being opened was heard. "And make sure Sans eats his meat!"

Papyrus waited to hear Gaster close the door to his study before turning back around to talk to Sans. Sans froze when Papyrus caught him leaning over the table, his bowl tilted down and spoon in the soup. A couple of squirrel chunks plunked into Papyrus' soup. "Heh heh, looks like you caught me."

Papyrus frowned, but didn't decide to yell. He simply pushed his bowl closer to Sans, which gave him the signal to continue putting his squirrel meat into his dish. "You know I can't cover for you every time. How will you grow big and strong bones if you skip out on the meat?"

"I don't skip out on all meat." Sans remarked, making sure he got the last of the squirrel out of his dish before handing Papyrus' bowl back to him. "Just squirrel."

Papyrus simply shook his head when his brother lightly laughed, but couldn't help but chuckle back as they ate in silence. After washing their bowls the two scampered back up to their bedroom, where the room had gotten more furniture since Sans first woke up in it.

The walls had been painted a calming blue while the carpet had a giant, red rug adorned on the floor. The right side of the room, which was Sans' side, was made up of a small blue bed, a tiny book shelf where Sans and Papyrus kept various things like toys, books and other materials, and a desk with a small seat that Sans like to sit in and watch the snow fall from the window. On Papyrus' side of the room he had a red bed, a small area to play with his toys and a desk of his own where he mostly displayed unique things he found outside. So far the table was adorned with a weird rock, a stick that looked like a rock, and a leaf that had a giant hole in it. At the end of the room was a closet where they kept their clothes.

Jumping on his bed, Papyrus grabbed a red marker atop his desk while Sans opened the closet to take off his clothes and slip into his cozy blue pjs. Papyrus stood up on his bed for a calendar Gaster had gotten him only to X off the day. "It's been two months since we first got here, Sans."

He turned his head over to his brother. "Two months since we became a family."

"It feels longer, doesn't it?" Sans grabbed Papyrus' pjs, throwing them over as Papyrus snatched them out of the air with a simple 'thanks.' "Kind of like we've lived here our whole lives."

"Well… we sort of have." Papyrus capped his marker before setting it down on his desk. He started to take off his clothes only to change into his pjs, hopping off the bed to place his clothes inside the hamper in their closet. "I mean, I don't remember how we got here, or anything else besides waking up in this house."

Sans shifted uncomfortably atop his bed when he crawled onto it, watching Papyrus make his way back over to his bed. "I don't think I want to remember our lives before this. Uncle Gaster said that he found us outside of Hotland, and that no one was taking care of us."

Sans shrugged, but it felt heavier this time. "I would rather remember this than a life where we were sad and alone."

Papyrus stopped himself from climbing into bed when he noticed Sans droop his skull a little. Papyrus frowned, walking over to where Sans sat and hoisting himself up onto his bed. "Aw, I'm sorry Sans. I didn't mean to reflect on that."

Gently he took Sans and pulled him into his lap, resting his arms around his small brother and laying his skull atop his. "I don't mind if I don't remember either. I won't bring it up again, ok?"

Sans felt warm when Papyrus hugged him, closing his eye sockets and resting his skull in his brother's arms. "Ok, Pap."

"Besides, even if we had a crummy life before this, look at where we've come. We have Uncle Gaster, this nice house, a cool, snowy town to live in." Papyrus closed his eye sockets too. "And I have you. So things are looking up for us. Things are ok."

A simple knock on the door made itself known before the door opened. Light poured in from the outside as Gaster poked his head inside the room. "Is everything alright in here?"

He noticed the two brother sitting atop Sans' bed. Papyrus looked down to Sans as he looked up to him, both of them smiling. Sans then turned his skull to nod to Gaster. "Yeah, things are ok."

"Well, things seem to be going fine at the lab." Gaster took this as his time to enter the room. "So what story do you want me to read tonight?"

"Oh, oh!" Papyrus set Sans back on his bed before jumping onto the ground, running over to the bookshelf and retrieving a book. "Peekaboo with Fluffy Bunny! Read this one!"

Excitedly Papyrus ran over and waved the book above his head, which Gaster took reluctantly. "This one again? But this is the seventh time we've read it, Papyrus."

He eyed Sans. "Perhaps your brother wants to read something else?"

Sans glanced at Papyrus for a moment, who gave his best pouting face before back to Gaster. He smiled, then shrugged. "I can't say no to that face. Read us Peekaboo with Fluffy Bunny, please."

Gaster sighed. "Alright. But we're reading another book tomorrow night, ok? This one is getting a little tiring."

"Nonsense!" Papyrus exclaimed while he climbed into bed. Gaster sat himself at the foot of Papyrus' bed while both boys got under the covers. "Peekaboo with Fluffy Bunny never gets tiring to the Great Papyrus!"

Sans rested his skull atop his pillow as he listened to Gaster read the children's book. He sounded a little disappointed when starting out, but soon got into character as Papyrus eagerly gripped the covers of his bed.

Gaster's voice soon drifted from Sans' mind as the world around him slowly faded away. This was the life he had come to know, and preferred that it stayed that way.

* * *

 **Papyrus: *staring intently at the audience* Sans, look! We're back! *eagerly looks over to his brother, who is walking over***

 **Sans: Eh, not exactly, Papyrus.**

 **Papyrus: What? Of course we are! *looks away from the screen for a second, pointing to the title* See? This is part 2 of our story!**

 **Sans: That is true, but the writer is not officially ready to come back yet.**

 **Papyrus: What? *Frowns* How is she not ready to come back yet? It's almost been a month!**

 **Sans: Well, the writer got pretty busy with college. *lightly shrugs* She didn't expect the workload to be so heavy and she hasn't had time to really write this month.**

 **Papyrus: Well, when is she coming back?**

 **Sans: *closes his eyes sockets* Three weeks.**

 **Papyrus: Three weeks?! *crosses arms* The Great Papyrus is not willing to wait three weeks!**

 **Sans: Well, she needs time to make the story good. *opens one eye socket* The writing process for one of these chapters takes a bit of time, and she usually likes to stock-pile chapters so that she's always ready for an update and to change things in earlier chapters if she needs to. If she just put out a chapter every time she was done writing it, it wouldn't be nearly the grade of writing the readers get.**

 **Papyrus: *lightly huffs* Well, if she's not ready to come back yet, why did she post this chapter? That seems super mean of her to leave her readers hanging for that long!**

 **Sans: It would be meaner if she didn't. *opens other eye socket, motioning to the audience* She's already been gone for a month, making them wait three more weeks for the first chapter seemed unfair to her.**

 **Papyrus: *looks away* I guess that's true. *Snaps back at Sans* So when are we really coming back?**

 **Sans: *lightly smiles* Expect the next chapter update on March 6** **th** **, she and us will be coming back for good then.**

 **Papyrus: I'm still confused on one more thing, Sans.**

 **Sans: What's that?**

 **Papyrus: *scratches skull* If the writer isn't ready to come back yet, why did she post this chapter early?**

 **Sans: Well Paps, it's Valentines' day for the humans.**

 **Papyrus: Valentines' day? *confused***

 **Sans: Yeah; it's a day celebrating love.**

 **Papyrus: Really? *a smile grows* Wowie, that sounds so wonderful!**

 **Sans: This is the writer's way of spreading her love to the readers. *smiles to the audience* Sorry for the cop-out, but we promise we won't be gone for much longer. Until then, Happy Valentine's day.**

 **Papyrus: *waves at the audience* Yes, Happy Valentine's day, humans! We both hope you have a lovely day with all your friends and loved ones! *he then picks up Sans, snuggling his skull next to his as both boys giggle***

 **Gaster: *off-screen* Sans, Papyrus. It's time to go.**

 **Both: Coming, Uncle Gaster! *Papyrus runs off with Sans in his arms***

 **Happy Valentine's day, everyone! And also a special shout-out to bedsafely and the askbabybones blogs on tumblr! Their love for the baby bones inspired me to take this route in Accepting Darkness, so a small homage to both with Sans' yellow boots.**

 **As for the results to the voting, this was a close! While I will abide by what I said and do the path that won, I am kind of curious about something. Would you guys want me to go both routes? It would be in the same story, they would come one after another. But what order I won't say. ; ) Just throwing it out there. Let me know if this interests you! If not, then i'll probably take the route that didn't win and put it a side story since both endings I love too much to not use.**


	2. Level -2

**Level -2**

"A dragon?" Sans looked up from his bowl of oatmeal with slices of Crab Apple to Papyrus frantically nodding his head.

He held his spoon and hands up to his face, not noticing a big chunk of oatmeal on his spoon plop back into the bowl. Sans frowned. "I can't make that."

"Why not? My warrior would look awesome fighting it!" Papyrus whined while Sans stirred his oatmeal absentmindedly with his spoon. He could hear Gaster cleaning up in the kitchen after having made the boys breakfast, and would soon be returning to his study before they left for the store later that morning.

"I can't sculpt like you, Papyrus. Make it yourself." Sans stared down at his teeth, to the best of his abilities, while focusing on opening them to eat his food. Sadly the only thing that happened was his skull rattling and giving himself a headache before sighing and pouring the oatmeal behind his cheekbone.

"But I'll be making the King his own snowman! My work lies there." Papyrus spoke with a tone of authority, as if he were the master sculpture about to make his masterpiece.

"I can make another monster, but I won't do a dragon." Sans closed his eye sockets to emphasize his point, to which he heard Papyrus give a light sigh.

"Fine. But it better be one scary monster!"

"Just make sure to bundle up warmly before going outside." Both boys turned their skulls to see Gaster poke his skull into the dining room. He smiled lightly. "I don't need two skele-pops outside when it's time to go to the store."

Both boys lightly giggled at the joke while Gaster decided to slip away during the moment. "I'll be out to get you two in an hour."

"Ok." Sans replied back, deciding to stir his oatmeal again while Papyrus shook his skull after he was done laughing.

"Ugh, that was terrible."

"But it made you laugh, right?" Sans pointed his spoon as Papyrus for a moment before picking up one of the crab apple slices and sliding it through the gap.

"Only because it was so bad." Papyrus tried to save face, even when Sans gave him a teasing, skeptical look.

Papyrus picked up his spoon again to eat his breakfast, but paused. "Hm?"

"What is it, Pa-!" Sans had enough time to look up from his oatmeal just as Papyrus sprang out of his seat.

He didn't bother grabbing his jacket or boots before flinging the front door wide open, sticking his skull outside. "Hey! Don't mess with my snow warrior!"

Sans dropped his spoon when he heard two girls scream, turning his skull in time to watch two alarmed bunny ears scurry away from the window. Pushing his seat back, Sans hopped out of his chair and over to the door, where Papyrus was letting in all the cold air.

"We weren't messin' with your snowman!" A young, high-pitched voice angrily shouted back.

Sans poked his skull outside to noticed two young bunnies standing a few feet away from the door. The pink bunny shivered as she hid behind the purple one, who had planted her boots into the snow and held her hands on her hips.

"It's not a snowman, it's a snow warrior!" Papyrus narrowed his eye sockets, though his eyes were more on his sculpture. "And don't touch them! They're to impress the King!"

"King Fluffybuns?" The pink bunny poked her head out from behind the purple bunny, less frightened then before.

"Fluffybuns?" Papyrus opened his jaw to counteract the silly name, but paused. He looked down to Sans. "Sans, is that the King's name?"

Sans strained his brain, feeling as though a memory from somewhere was out of reach. "I don't think so… maybe Kingy?"

"King Kingy?" Papyrus contemplated the name for two seconds before looking back down to Sans. "Our King has a rather peculiar name."

"We like to call him King Fluffybuns." The two skelebros turned their attention back over to the two bunnies, who had grown more friendly than before.

The pink one grabbed her own ears, lowering them to the side of her face. "Because his fur is so soft, like warm buns."

"Really?" Papyrus grabbed for the top of his skull before realizing he didn't have bunny ears. "I shall have to feel the King's fur and truly see if it warrants the title of Fluffybuns!"

Sans half-smiled. "That's kind of weird."

"Sans, nothing is weird when it comes to research." Papyrus held up a bony finger, gazing down at Sans as if to lecture him. "For as Uncle Gaster taught us, nothing is more crucial than the discovery of knowledge!"

He then smiled, dropping his finger. "Plus I want to see how plush our King is!"

Again the boys attention was taken back to the girls when they heard them giggling. Papyrus furrowed his eyebrows. "What's so funny?"

The purple one used one of her hands to cover her mouth, though it failed to stop the giggles. "You are!"

She gestured her only free hand over to the pink bunny, who had taken herself out from behind her. "This is Carrie, and I'm Mary!"

"Hello." Sans lightly waved his hand in the air, his smile growing when they enthusiastically waved back.

Papyrus' smile brightened. "Well I'm the Great Papyrus, and this is my cool brother, Sans!"

"Hiya!" Mary giggled when returning the greeting, though Carrie paused in her wave. She lightly tugged on Mary's jacket, who turned to her with slight annoyance. "Don't tug on me, Carrie!"

"But Mary!" Carrie started to whine, allowing her voice to grow soft. Papyrus and Sans had to lean a little to hear what she was saying. "That name, didn't it belong to-"

Carrie noticed the two skelebros in the corner of her eye. She stifled a gasp before hiding behind Mary, who gave her a confused stare. She then shook her head, turning her attention back to Sans and Papyrus. "Don't mind her. She's scared of everything."

"I am not!" Carrie whined again, but Mary just rolled her eyes.

She gazed back at the snow sculptures. "So are you going to make some more today?"

Papyrus straightened his back, placing a hand on his rib cage. "You bet we are! I am to make the King a snowman worthy of his attention!"

He then gestured to Sans, his high-and-mighty voice dropping an octet. "While Sans needs to try again with his ferocious monster."

"Oh! Can we help?" Mary's eyes almost sparkled when she leaned forward, her little body wiggling. "I wanna make a monster!"

Papyrus glanced over to Sans, as if to ask him if he wanted it without yelling it to the heavens. Sans gave the two monster girls a quick look before shrugging his shoulders. "Sure, why not."

"Yay!" Mary jumped practically a foot into the air, leaving Carrie to wobble forward from losing her grip on Mary. Once she landed however she took her sister's hands into her own, lightly jumping up and down to get her sister excited too. "We're makin' a monster! We're makin' a monster!"

"Yaaaay." Carrie tried to fake the enthusiasm, her eyes trained on Sans. He didn't know why, but it looked as though she had a lot of questions for him.

"Sans, Papyrus! Don't leave the door open!" Both boys flinched to hear Gaster's sharp voice cut through the air, turning their skulls back. They saw him resting his hands on the banister on the second floor, a authoritative frown lingering on his face. "Get dressed and talk outside, but don't linger at the door."

"Sorry…" Papyrus weakly muttered, deciding that the best course of action was to not upset Gaster any further. The two got dressed as quickly as they could, and soon Sans found himself standing with Mary and Carrie over by his snow-rock while Papyrus went behind the house to gather snow.

"So what are we makin'?" Mary's breath materialized in front of her face when she spoke, her mittens close to her cheeks to give them warmth.

Even though he was bundled up Sans didn't feel cold like the other monsters. He decided to mimic Mary's gesture though, as if that would bring some heat he hadn't felt before. "Well, I was just going to make a bigger rock."

Mary narrowed her eyes, allowing her hands to drop. "That's boring! What we need is something big and scary!"

"Like a dragon?" Sans joked, his eyes drifting off to the side only to go back to Mary when she suddenly grabbed his arms.

The delight in her eyes made Sans uncomfortable. "Yes! Like a dragon! Oh, let's make a dragon!"

"That sounds hard." Carrie grumbled, stuffing her chin inside her jacket. Her eyes lingered on Sans again, making him wonder why she was so fascinated with him.

Mary rolled her eyes. "Pssh, how hard can it be?"

"Oh ho, so you are making a dragon!" Sans didn't need to turn his skull when Papyrus suddenly threw an arm around him. His eyes shined like stars. "The Great Papyrus approves of this monster!"

"But bro," Sans started, glancing wearily at the snow around what could be called their front yard. "Do you think we'll have enough snow?"

Papyrus opened his mouth but closed it in contemplation when he surveyed the snow before them. "Hmm, you might be right about that, brother."

In a defeated way Papyrus drooped his shoulders forward. "Now what will my amazing snow warrior fight? Nyo ho ho."

Sans felt a little bad for constantly trying to kill Papyrus' fun, his mouth forming a small, innocent smile. "We could just make a tiny dragon. I'm sure we have enough snow for that."

"A tiny dragon?" Papyrus turned his skull to look at Sans. "Dragons aren't tiny! They're supposed to be huge and intimidating!"

"Hey, don't cry!" Mary held her hands up delicately, leaning lightly forward. "I can just make the inside rock, and we can pile snow around it!"

"Mary…" Carrie tried wrapping her arms around Mary's arm but she pushed her off. Carrie lightly bounced back before planting her feet in the snow; her cheeks lightly blushed in annoyance.

"Rock?" Papyrus lifted his shoulders back up, turning his skull to either side before back at Mary. "I see no giant, rock-dragons."

Mary playfully shook her head. "Nah, watch!"

"Mary!" Carrie threw herself back at her sister, who delightfully smashed her foot into the snow. Just as Carrie wrapped her arms around her sister's neck, throwing her off balance, something big and dark erupted from the right in front of the two skelebros.

Sans' pupils grew small as something inside him stirred on its own. Instead of freezing in fright his knees bent before jumping backwards and out of harms way.

Sans fell into the sticky snow, lifting his skull first in fright. Since when did he have such good reflexes?

"Sans!"

Sans angled his skull up when he noticed a blur of red dangling from the sky. Before him stood a massive and intricate statue of a ferocious dragon, its mouth open to reveal its rows of jagged teeth and wings flared upwards towards the sky. Dangling from the tip of one of the wings was Papyrus, whose winter jacket had caught onto the end when it rose and took him with it.

"Papyrus!" Sans quickly got to his feet but didn't know how he would be able to reach his brother. The dragon didn't look climbable, but to stand there and let his brother struggle wasn't an option.

"Sans, this is so cool!" Papyrus shouted down below, cupping his hands over his mouth for maximum volume. "I can see the rest of Snowdin up here!"

He took a moment to blink, letting the newfound height settle in. "Also, I am very terrified right now!"

"Don't move, Pap!" Sans cupped his hands over his teeth like his brother was doing, trying not to panic as hard as he wanted to. "I'll get you down!"

"Look what you did, Carrie!" Mary's voice could be heard behind the dragon statue, followed by the sound of Carrie's whining tone.

"Dad said not to use our powers close to other monsters!"

"That's not how you acted with the other ones!"

"That was before dad grounded us!"

"I had it under control until you pushed me!"

"I did not push you!"

"Did too!"

Whilst the two sister's bickered Sans lightly jogged around the dragon to reach them. He stopped and placed a hand on the tail of the statue, finding the two bunny girls standing opposite of one another with fists raised. "Hey!"

The two stopped their fighting for the moment when they noticed Sans grit his teeth. "Get my brother down!"

"Yeah!" Carrie side-stepped in the direction Sans stood, crossing her arms.

Mary pursed her lips, stomping the ground again. "Don't side with him! This is your fault!"

"Is not!"

The sound of a door slamming open made everyone flinch, followed by a loud, commanding tone. "What is going on out here?"

"Uncle Gaster!" Sans gasped, his legs refusing to move while his upper half turned to face their guardian.

His attention however was on Papyrus, who dangled from the giant rock dragon. He hesitantly waved his hand. "H-Hi Uncle Gaster."

A sudden rip and jerk, and in a few seconds Papyrus landed face-first into the snow, a small cloud of snow dispersing around him. Gaster took a step back to avoid getting hit by the line of snow, watching as Papyrus' red winter jacket fluttered to the ground and atop of Papyrus.

Ears drooping, Mary and Carrie took a few steps back whilst hanging their heads in shame. Then, without notice Mary grabbed her sister's hand and bolted down the street. "Mary!"

"I'm not gettin' in trouble again!"

Sans frowned, turning his body to the direction they ran. "Hey! Don't leave this in our yard!"

He then heard Gaster breathe in a long sigh as he bent down to help Papyrus up. He held his red jacket in his left hand, noticing the giant gash that went through the middle.

Papyrus took his hand away from Gaster's grip and slowly walked backwards in an attempt to get behind Sans. However his foot hit upon the dragon's tail, leaving him to falter and fall into the snow. "It-it was an accident, Uncle Gaster. I'm alright, though, see?"

"I know you would be." Gaster paused for a moment, then moved himself over to where Sans stood. He helped Papyrus up again before crouching down and placing a hand on Sans' shoulder. "Did you get hit? Are you hurt?"

"Huh?" Sans wasn't sure why Gaster was checking him over, Papyrus was the one that fell fifteen feet. He nodded his head. "I'm fine, Uncle Gaster. You really should be checking Papyrus though."

Gaster glanced over to Papyrus, who gave him a nervous smile as if he was still in trouble. "Papyrus, are you alright?"

Papyrus narrowed his eye sockets. "Heh, such a height can't stop the Great Papyrus!" He then eyed the statue, "But uh, maybe the statue isn't too safe to have in the yard."

"I agree with this notion." Gaster glanced back in the direction Mary and Carrie ran off, knowing whose kids they belonged to. "I'll have to talk with their parents later about dismantling such a large structure in our yard."

His attention then turned back to Sans, placing his other hand on his shoulder. "You need to be more careful if you're going to be playing outside, alright? This world is filled with a lot of dangerous things."

Sans felt a nervous smile crawl up his face. He didn't understand why Gaster was looking at him with such concern. "Uncle Gaster, I'm ok. Look, no broken bones or anything."

As if to demonstrate he wiggled his way out of Gaster's hold, proceeding to lift his arms and wiggle his legs. "Don't worry about me."

Gaster didn't seem to take his word for the moment, solemnly standing up. He gazed at Papyrus' ripped jacket once more.

"Looks like we'll stopping at another store in the Capital." He said with a groan, as if he was dreading the destination he had in mind.

He then motioned with his skull at the other two. "We'll be leaving for the Capital shortly."

"Why not right now?" Sans asked, as him and Papyrus were already dressed for the trip out of Snowdin.

Gaster got down on one knee and ruffled a hand on Sans skull, giving him a toothy smile. "Because someone forgot to clean up their mess this morning from breakfast."

"Oh yeah!" Sans and Gaster turned to Papyrus, who looked more surprised than the both of them. "Never fear, Uncle Gaster! I, the Great Papyrus, shall finish all my breakfast!"

"You better." Gaster lightly chuckled, "Or else I just might forget to pick up some spaghetti at the store."

"Forget the spaghetti?!" Papyrus practically soared over the dragon's tail, grabbing Sans' hand and roughly pulled him back inside the house. "Come on, Sans! Get inside and eat your breakfast! The spaghetti depends on it!"

Gaster simply watched when he entered back inside their house to the race Papyrus attempted to initiate with Sans in order to get their food down. Sans was a little slower in eating his now cold oatmeal, but he hopped off of his chair to go wash his bowl and spoon a little later than Papyrus.

After grabbing their small, brown backpacks, Gaster let them back outside before locking the door behind them, starting their journey to the Capital.

Papyrus led the way as he hopped through the untouched snow, bellowing his signature laugh with every step of his foot. Sans stayed close to Gaster on their walk, his little left hand finding Gaster's right one and gently holding it. Gaster didn't seem to mind.

"Can we get some more crab apples, Uncle Gaster?" Sans asked, prompting Gaster to gaze down at his little companion.

Gaster lightly hummed. "Strange, I thought you weren't a fan of crab apples." A smile teased at his lips.

Sans saw his smile and hid his under his jacket. "Well, I know Papyrus likes them. And I probably should be eating healthier."

"That would be good for you." Gaster gently squeezed Sans' hand. "Want to go visit the dump again, huh?"

Sans shifted his eyes away as Gaster peered down at him, his shoulders lightly rising. "Maybe."

Gaster chuckled. "I think we can make a stop. Just no pets or sharp objects, ok?"

"We're going to the dump?" Papyrus paused for a moment in his fun with the snow to turn happily back to the two trailing behind him.

Sans eagerly nodded his head, so excited that he let go of Gaster's hand for a moment to rush over to his brother. "We get to keep something, too!"

"Really?" Papyrus opened his arms only for Sans to crash into them, both boys giggling as Papyrus easily picked Sans up in his arms. He swung him around as they held hands, with Sans circling through the air while Papyrus tried to keep himself from falling down. "We're going to the dump!"

Gaster took a moment to watch the boys' fun, a soft smile present on his face before he gestured them to turn. "Come on you two, we're burning time."

Papyrus slowed his swing, catching his brother in his arms before running in front of Gaster. "Coming!"

After passing a small, dense part of the village, which consisted of just houses, the two came upon a long, large river that snaked its way through their hometown. A lone figure stood upon a wooden boat, whose front piece resembled that of a dog. Their whole identity was shrouded in grey.

The hood idly turned to look at the three when Papyrus laughed his way over, setting Sans down right next to the figure. "Good morning!"

"Tra la la. Morning." The lone figure replied, their voice but an echo of something once great. Their hood turned upwards to greet Gaster, who softly smiled at the creature.

"Waterfall, please." Gaster hopped from the snow bank onto the small boat, gesturing for Papyrus and Sans to follow.

Sans wobbled when he hopped onto the boat while Papyrus slammed his feet onto it, throwing his arms into the air in proclamation of his skills. "Nyeh heh heh!"

Gaster made sure both were inside the boat before nodding to the figure in front of him.

"Then we're off." The figure spoke. Not soon after the boat lightly shook as Sans and Papyrus fell on their bottoms.

Papyrus grabbed the edge of the boat, gasping loudly when he looked down. "Sans, look!"

Sans peered below the boat, shocked to see that the boat had move upwards to reveal wooden legs that were hidden in the water. The feet of the boat seemed to stand atop the water, and before Sans could look at them any longer the boat lurched backwards and sped off in the opposite direction.

Gaster broadened his stance to keep himself from falling off into the river, his smile growing to hear Papyrus and Sans laughing behind him. They held onto the boat beneath them, being swayed back and forth from the constant change in inertia.

"This is so cool!" Papyrus yelled aloud as Sans nodded his head excitedly in agreement. Out of all the times they rode the boat, this was the first time they had seen it do something like this.

"Tra la la. Are you forgetting something?" The boatman sung to himself, his body staying perfectly still despite the boat's movements.

After a few more minutes of the boat 'running', the four occupants came towards a small area to dock. The snowy world Sans and Papyrus were used to was now replaced with walls and floors of stone, which they eagerly hopped onto once the boat stopped moving.

Papyrus snatched Sans' hand into his own, already running down the hall of stone before Gaster could get off. "Come on, Sans!"

Gaster lightly frowned, calling out to them. "Don't wander too far!" But by then the two monsters had already turned the corner and left the boat.

Papyrus and Sans didn't get too far when another monster blocked their path, recognizing the two as they skidded to a stop. "Slow down there boys! You might just knock into this old monster!"

Sans grinned up to the old turtle before them, who rested his hands on his cane in front of him. Out of all the monsters to run into, Gerson was always his favorite. "Good morning, Mr. Gerson!"

"Good morning you little rascals!" Gerson laughed, getting down on one knee and opening his arms. Papyrus and Sans practically threw themselves into his awaiting arms for a warm hug, hearing Gerson hum in delight. "You two staying out of trouble?"

Sans lifted his skull out of Gerson's hug, to which he let go of both boys. Running into Gerson whenever they went to the dump was always a favorite time for Sans. "Eh, sort of!"

"Sort of?" Gerson eyed them, a silly smile on his face. "You two giving old Wingdings a run for his money, eh?"

"Uncle Gaster runs from his money?" Papyrus seemed to have completely missed the saying, thinking intently on what Gerson said. Sans and Gerson lightly chuckled as he contemplated hard before glancing at his brother. "Is the gold alive!?"

"I don't think so." Sans grinned, deciding to let Papyrus think of his own fantasies before turning his attention back to Gerson. "How are you doing?"

"Well, I'm doing as good as an old monster can do." Gerson slowly got back up on his feet, resting his hands on his cane again. "But what I wouldn't give to be able to have the energy you two have. Say, you want to trade? Wah ha ha!"

Gerson's eyes soon stared behind the two boys, making them glance back to watch Gaster turning the corner. "Well, if it isn't ol' Wingdings himself!"

Gaster moved silently over to where Sans and Papyrus stood, lightly frowning. "I'm not as old as you, Gerson."

"Yeah, but you're still old! Wah ha ha!" Gerson tapped his cane on the ground. "I'm surprised you still have the energy to raise two rambunctious skeletons. They were telling me all sorts of pranks they were going to use on you."

"Is that so?" Gaster stared down at the two of them with a teasing smile, which made Sans' grin widen.

Papyrus however frowned. "Hey, I didn't say that!"

He turned his skull back over to Gerson. "Gerson, you're lying!"

"No no, I'm pretty sure we were talking about putting whoopee cushions in his shoes." Gerson teased, staring more at Gaster than he was the children at the moment.

Papyrus huffed, crossing his arms. "The Great Papyrus would never do that!"

He then lightly smiled, picturing the scene in his head. "Well, maybe not never."

Gaster used one of his hands to lightly gesture the two boys. "Why don't you two go and see what the dump has in store today? I need to talk to Gerson for a moment."

Sans nodded his skull. "Alright." Before turning it back over to Gerson. "See you later, Mr. Gerson!"

Gerson waved the two scampering boys off with his right hand. "See ya, you little rascals! Find something cool for me!"

"We will!" Sans yelled behind him, running after Papyrus who had gotten a good head start after Gaster gave them permission to head off.

From stone to water, Papyrus and Sans wasted no time splashing into the watery world amassed with hills of junk and garbage. From the heavens came waste that no one wanted, and yet in the darkness the denizens saw it as gifts from a world they would never reach.

Papyrus jumped onto the nearest hill of garbage, shuffling through what he could touch to grab for things inside. Sans continued to trudge through the murky water, eyeing the tops of the hills while gripping his rugged backpack tightly in his hands. He remembered when Gaster first gave them these backpacks when they found them in this very place.

Testing the structure of one hill, Sans hoisted himself up a good looking hill, more notably for the edges of books that seemed to be sticking out. He climbed his way up, his boney hand feeling the hard-edge of the first book he could reach before giving it a tug. It relented, but with a few more tugs Sans jerked backwards and held onto the mass of junk from falling into the water.

He eyed the worn title, which was stained with a few mysterious liquids before opening the inside. Inside were pages of nothing but typed paragraphs, a novel to say the least. Sans absent-mindedly picking one paragraph to focus on:

 _As darkness settled upon the earth, Clayton and Lady Alice still stood by the ship's rail in silent contemplation of their future abode. From the dark shadows of the mighty forest came the wild calls of the savage beast- the deep roar of a lion, and, occasionally, the shrill scream of a panther._

 _The woman shrank closer to the man in terror-stricken anticipation of the horrors lying in wait for them in the awful blackness of the nights to come, when they should be alone upon that wild and lonely shore._

Sans eyed the text whimsically before closing it and placing it in this backpack. Another book about these strange things called 'man' and 'woman', only now it had new words like 'lion', 'panther' and 'forest'. He wondered just what these strange beings looked like, as it seemed most of the work he found in the dump featured such monsters. Were they a deceased race? Or was it merely an imaginary creature, taking place in a weird world where there were dangers like lions and panthers.

Sans eagerly snatched at another book, hoping it would soon give him the answers to these odd words or a little more info on this 'man' that he knew nothing about. When he took notice of the cover it wasn't like the others he had picked up, flipping through the contents inside for information.

It looked to be a journal, though some of the pages up front were scribbled on in illegible cursive. Sans frowned, then decided to smile and put the journal in his backpack. He would make sense of the writing, whoever it came from.

"Whoa, neato!" Sans idly turned his skull over in the direction where Papyrus' voice came from. He probably found another action figure, before resuming his scavenging.

Occasionally Sans felt as though he was being watched, as whenever he turned his skull in the direction a light splashing noise could be heard. He didn't pay much attention to it, as it could have been other things plopping down into the dump.

"Sans, look what I got!" Sans looked down when he heard the hill he stood upon crunch and slightly move as Papyrus jumped onto it. He scurried up to where Sans stood, shoving something plastic close to his skull. "Isn't it cool?!"

"Give me some space, Pap." Sans gently shoved the item out from in front of him, to which Papyrus held his arms back a bit to show off the item better. It was a dirty and somewhat broken airplane, complete with a black window up front and little wheels on the bottom.

Sans eyed the thing curiously. "What is it?"

"I don't know!" Papyrus proudly proclaimed, holding it in one hand before eyeing it himself. "Do you think it's some sort of car?"

"Maybe." Sans opened his palms as Papyrus gave him the airplane to inspect. He exchanged it from one hand to other, inspecting the airplane for what it was before flicking the wheels only to flinch back when they rolled.

His smile grew with his excitement. "This is pretty cool."

"Right?" Papyrus gestured to have it back which Sans did so happily. "Such a car can only be driven by the Great Papyrus!"

Sans' eyes scanned the other books he could see on the hill he stood on, starting his trek up. "Maybe one of these books says something about them."

When grabbing part of the pile however, Sans felt the items underneath his feet shift. He lurched down for a moment before falling off of the hill entirely, creating a big splash on his way down into the water.

With a startle Sans raised his skull quickly, soaking wet while Papyrus called down to his brother. "You ok?"

Putting away his 'car' and letting go of some junk, Papyrus let the garbage beneath his feet slide him down to where his brother sat, soggy and wet. He extended his hand to help him up, which Sans took eagerly. However instead of getting up, Sans jerked his arm back, throwing Papyrus off balance on his shaky foundation and down into the water with him.

Sans angled his skull away as the murky water splashed at him, following Papyrus sitting up from falling in Sans' lap. He narrowed his eye sockets. "What was that for?"

"I don't want to be the only wet one when Uncle Gaster sees us." Sans innocently replied, his grin stretching.

Papyrus shot his brother a mean look for a moment before throwing his hands up, splashing some water on Sans' skull. "Yeah, well take that!"

"No, not the water!" Sans laughed, pushing his brother off of him and back into the water before getting up to run away.

Papyrus got on his knees quickly, water dripping off of him as he rose to his feet to chase after Sans. "Oh you're not getting away that easily!"

"Try and stop me!" Sans yelled back, running around the hill he just tried climbing as Papyrus bounded after him, kicking water up with every step.

Something from beneath the water seemed to catch Sans' foot, causing him to stumble and fall back into the water. He only had a moment to turn onto his back before yelling when Papyrus pounced on him. Both boys fell harmlessly back into the water, rolling farther into the dump as both tried to get atop one another, throwing and splashing water in every direction.

"Hey, get off!"

"You started it!"

"I'll end it if you just hold still!"

"No, The Great Papyrus always ends the fight! Nyeh heh heh!"

Among their rolling and splashing Sans saw a nearby hill with something odd atop. Using his newfound ground and with Papyrus beneath him, he hopped off of his brother and scampered over to the hill.

Papyrus pushed himself back up, leaping for the hill and climbing after his brother. "No hill can save you from justice!"

Sans responded with his own chuckle, lightly kicking his foot above Papyrus' head so as to not actually hit him. "We'll see about that."

Pulling himself atop the hill, Sans was surprised to discover something big and whole, unlike most of the other stuff him and his brother usually found. It looked like some sort of transportation device, but not like those little cars Papyrus liked to collect. It was a solid, yellow color, with handles off to the sides which connected to a plastic wheel, and in the back was another wheel and a spot where a wheel seemed to be missing.

Sans didn't have long to look at it when his brother suddenly sprung up from the hill behind him. "Got you!"

Grabbing for his brother, Sans gripped the handles and threw himself into the seat, placing his feet onto two slabs of metal that stuck out from the sides. "You'll never catch me alive!"

Sans however didn't know how the vehicle worked, pushing his feet down onto the metal slabs only to find them stuck. His fear grew just as Papyrus lost a bit of his balance from the sliding garbage underneath him, falling atop his brother and pushing the vehicle forward.

Papyrus only regained his ground as the vehicle lurched forward from the hill suddenly giving out, and both brothers found themselves riding down the rickety slope of the crashing hill. Both screamed as they held onto one another, enduring the roller coaster they set in motion.

Just at the bottom was a small, make-shift ramp of cardboard, which both boys flew off of and careened into the next hill. The hill they were originally on slumped into the water, defeated and tired.

Papyrus lifted his skull from the crash, still holding onto Sans for dear life as his skull was implanted into the hill. "Sans?"

"I'm ok." He weakly muttered, his skull lifting up and out of the hill. A pillow rested where his skull originally was before falling onto their vehicle, which slowly slid down the new hill until it slowly sunk into the water.

Both brothers glanced at one another before Papyrus snorted, then started laughing. Sans felt a nervous chuckle escape his teeth before it became an actual laugh. Papyrus couldn't help but shout. "That was awesome! Let's do that again!"

Sans closed his eye sockets when Papyrus hugged him, opening them quickly when he spotted someone watching them. They didn't notice Sans was staring at them until he raised his voice. "Hello?"

With a snap the figure hunched over, scurrying behind the hill they casually touched before. Papyrus glanced at his brother before he moved himself out of the hug, hopping back into the water and over to the hill. "Sans?"

"Someone's here." Sans whispered, before allowing his voice to grow louder. "Hello? I know you're here."

Papyrus stopped and watched his brother start to make his way around the hill, only for another monster to start creeping around it to the front. They seemed very focused on not getting caught from behind, so when Papyrus waved his hand and shouted, 'Hello!' they nearly had a heart attack.

"O-Oh!" Spinning too fast to see Papyrus, the monster tripped over their own tail and landed into the water. Sans had exited from the hill on the other side only to race back over to Papyrus.

"Oh-oh dear…" The monster stuttered, trying to find their balance again as they stood up.

They both realized they were staring up at a female, yellow dinosaur. Her white lab coat covered most of her body, which left her clothing underneath up to the imagination. Her head split off into three points behind her, spotted with light orange spots. Her young, black eyes stared at the two boys from behind thick glasses, her mouth shivering as if it were cold. "U-um…Hello!"

She raised a hand, but didn't wave it. "S-Sorry for snooping… I uh… d-didn't want to interrupt…"

"Snooping?" Papyrus looked down at Sans, who looked up at him back.

"It means she was watching us."

"Oh!" Papyrus smiled to the new monster. "That's ok! If you wanted to play with us you could have just asked!"

"Th-That's ok…" The dinosaur fiddled with her claws, a deep frown resting on her face. She stared hard at the water for a moment that followed the silence. She cleared her throat. "U-um…"

She turned her head backwards, as if she was expecting someone to be there, before glancing back at Sans and Papyrus. "C-Can I…er, would you mind if I um…"

She bit her lower lip. "T-Took a look at you two…?"

Sans wore a confused expression. "Aren't you looking at us right now?"

The female dinosaur shifted her eyes away, her face blushing with red. "We-Well yes and no… I mean, I am looking at you but uh not in the way…th-that is to say…"

She didn't finish her words, deciding to just burry her face in her hands. "N-Never mind. Forget I said anything!"

Sans gave his brother a weary glance. Papyrus however stepped forward, his smile still plastered to his skull. "Hey, it's ok! You can stare at the Great Papyrus all day if you want!"

"N-no, that's alright…" The female monster weakly replied. However she moved her hands to let one of her eyes look at Papyrus, before dropping them slowly. She stared long and hard at Papyrus, which Sans didn't like at all, before she started to circle around him. "O-Oh…"

She extended a hand. "U-Um… may I?"

Papyrus looked to his hand, giving it to her. "Sure!"

She lightly took Papyrus' hand, holding it tenderly before giving it a little squeeze, feeling the bone. A smile grew on her face. "Wow, I uh…"

She glanced away. "Th-This must look really weird…"

Sans decided to take note on what she was wearing. "Are you a scientist?"

As if he just proclaimed he had a bomb the female flinched back from Papyrus' hand. "What? Um, n-no! I-I'm not a scientist! I uh, j-just like wearing this for fun, and uh,"

As she continued to babble, Papyrus bunched his eyebrows in curiosity. Suddenly, his eye sockets widened. "Wait a second, I know your voice!"

"You do?" Sans gave his attention to his brother, with which the dinosaur did the same.

"Y-You do?" The dinosaur mimicked.

Papyrus quickly nodded his head. "I heard you talking with Uncle Gaster back at the lab."

"O-Oh!" The dinosaur's face lit up with red, her hands coming together for comfort.

Sans still stared at his brother oddly, to which he shrugged. "You were still out then."

Sans was still confused, but he turned his attention back to the monster girl, whom he assumed was just a teenager. "So, who are you?"

"Uuuuuuuuhhh." The teenager replied, though in one giant breath she slumped her body. "A-alright, you got me."

Tapping her claws together, she weakly smiled. "M-My name is Alphys. I uh, I'm D-Dr. Gaster's assistant."

* * *

 **Hey everyone! As promised, it's March 6** **th** **, which means Accepting Darkness is off of its hiatus and will be updated! …Unfortunately, I barely had the motivation to write what with all the craziness school has been giving me and getting somewhat sick. So for the moment Accepting Darkness will be updated on a weekly basis instead of every five days to give me time to catch up on my writing.**

 **A lot of you have been confused as to what I mean with my last update on the 'two routes'. What I was referring to was the ending you guys picked for Accepting Darkness, IE, Chara or Frisk. The polls were very close and at first I was ok with doing both endings, but in the end it would have to end with Genocide after Pacifist if I were to do both, which would sort of violate the true pacifist ending. So, I decided to take the Genocide after Pacifist and make that into its own story, "Relearn what's been forgotten." I won't be updating that nearly as often as Accepting Darkness but I'm very excited to write about it, and I hope you guys join me over there too! It'll be a lot of fun, trust me!**

 **Finally, the story is going to start off slow, I will say that. Some of you might get suffocated by the near cuteness and innocent behavior these next several chapters are going to be, but trust me, it's going to get dark fast and when that happens these scenes will be rare. Gotta give the skelebros some good memories!**

 **Oh, I almost forgot! That book Sans finds is actually a homage to one of my favorite books, and whoever can guess the title (and author!) first can ask a question about Accepting Darkness or Fading Light! While I can't give away spoilers, I'm fine with wetting your bills with teasers, so search google and tell me what you find! I'm pretty sure one of those names in there is a big giveaway. : P**

 **I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter, and I'll see you all Sunday!**


	3. Level -3

**Level -3**

"You know Uncle Gaster?" Papyrus and Sans had taken to sitting on one of the garbage hills as Alphys kept her stance. Her hands were constantly kept in the other's embrace, as if separating them would have caused Alphys to hide.

Alphys had a hard time keeping her eyes on the two children. "Y-Yeah? I mean, he's my b-boss and all, so, it'd make sense if I knew him."

"So you're a scientist then." Sans reiterated, not minding that Papyrus, for the moment, had his hand over his. The stuff they sat on wasn't the most comfortable, but it was better than sitting back in the water. On the plus side, their clothes were starting to dry off.

Nervously Alphys hunched a little. "S-Sort of? I mean, I am a scientist, b-but I'm not _the_ Head Scientist. I-I just do my own thing and h-help Dr. Gaster if he needs it…"

Alphys buried her head into her lab coat, her tail curling around her feet in a sad attempt to hide. She didn't expect to hear the brothers suddenly shout in excitement. "That's so cool!"

Confused, Alphys lifted her head to stare at Papyrus and Sans, who both grinned like idiots. Sans seemed a little more excited than Papyrus, his little hands curled into fists. "What do you make in your lab?"

"Oh! I bet she makes all sorts of awesome, science-y things." Papyrus turned his skull to look at Sans before both leaned towards Alphys, bouncing off of one another's ideas.

"Can you make a giant robot?"

"Can you travel back in time?"

"Can you make super-monsters?"

"Can you create life?!"

Alphys' cheeks were rosy as she raised her hands to calm the two. A happy, embarrassed smile gracing her lips. "N-Now, now. I-uh, I haven't done all those things."

"That means you've done one, right?" Sans cocked his skull to the side, allowing himself to settle down while Papyrus continued to bounce in his seat.

"Why, yes actually!" Alphys angled her eyebrows down. "I uh, I might have been the one to create M-Mettaton!"

"YOU created Mettaton?!" Sans would have covered his ears if he had any when Papyrus basically yelled his reply. His eyes dazzled like stars. "He's only like, the coolest monster in all of the Underground!"

Sans lightly frowned. "I thought he only had a small, entertainment show."

"Well, he does." Papyrus reigned in his voice, puffing his chest out. "But I know that eventually he'll rise to stardom!"

"Y-Yeah, he thinks so too." Alphys' voice seemed clearer than when the two first stumbled upon her. She stood taller and her hands weren't so needy for one another.

"So, you here looking for cool things too?" Sans had a million questions buzzing through his skull on this new monster he had just met, but he didn't really know how much time he had before Gaster would come to get them.

"Erm, sort of." Alphys shrugged, her tail uncurling from underneath her to rest behind her. "I-I usually come here to find neat things. Today I was hoping to find some new anime."

Papyrus lifted his skull while Sans tilted his. "What's 'any-may'?"

With a frightened gasp Alphys placed her hands on her snout. "You've **never** heard of anime?"

Papyrus clacked his teeth. "Is that bad?"

"Definitely!" Alphys threw her hands into the air before immediately retracting them. She hunched again, realizing she had just shouted. "Ahem! Erm, de-definitely. That's…it's super bad."

Sans half-smiled at Alphys as he heard the rustle of garbage moving beside him. Papyrus now stood on the trash he once sat under, hopping off the pile and making a medium-splash with his boots. "Sans and I found something super cool!"

With a triumphant point, Papyrus was able to get Alphys and Sans to turn their heads over to the half-submerged vehicle they rode down the eroding hill. "I think it's a car!"

"That?" Alphys adjusted her glasses on her snout, taking steps over to the random vehicle as Papyrus followed behind like a happy duck. Sans, feeling left out, jumped off of the hill and trudged after them.

They all huddled around the plastic vehicle, which Alphys took a moment to lift out of the water and place on a small hill of junk. Papyrus eyed the vehicle happily, while Sans was checking it for any new damage. "Isn't it cool?"

"Hm, it looks like a bicycle." Alphys muttered as she inspected the transportation device. Her hunched over and took a closer look at the limb that came up short. "Though it looks like it's missing a wheel."

Her head rose up in confusion. "I didn't know bicycles came with more than two wheels."

Papyrus innocently turned to Sans. "Sans, what's a bicycle?"

Sans simply shrugged back, though Alphys heard the question. She answered clearly while still staring intently at the 'bicycle'. "A bicycle is what the hu-"

Her eyes suddenly grew wide, snapping over to Sans and Papyrus as her mouth still drawled for a word. "-uuuuuuuge, influential monsters are creating, yes! That's right!"

She pointed a finger upwards, sweat starting to form on her forehead. "F-From what I've discovered, it's just some metal bars with w-wheels on the ends, and they maneuver the 'vehicle' by pedaling metal slabs that are conjoined to a circular chain."

"Wow, that's a lot of words I don't know!" Papyrus exclaimed, though as he looked at this 'bicycle' better his happiness escalated. "Sans, do you think Uncle Gaster will let us keep it?"

"Maybe." Sans moved his shoulders, staring less at the 'bicycle' and more at Alphys. "What happened there? You hiding something?"

"H-Hiding?" Alphys gawked in disbelief, though her bunched hands and enclosed body said the complete opposite. "N-Never! I just, uh….um, forgot the word… that's all."

She closed her lips tightly, averting her gaze away as if she just hoped the conversation would float away like the water.

"Erm, um…" Alphys went back to holding her hands, hunching over nervously. Her eyes darted away for a second, lips pursed before finally looking back to the two with a nervous smile. "H-Hey! You like this bicycle, r-right? Um, I-I could fix it if you want! I-I can even make it b-better!"

Sans still kept his eyes trained on Alphys, who practically cowered beneath him. Papyrus however didn't seem to notice, glancing excitedly over at this new fascination. "You would do that for us?"

Alphys smiled. "O-Of course! It wouldn't be hard at all…" She switched her glance back over to the bicycle, hoping to get father into different conversations as possible. "I-I just need to find another wheel."

"We could help!" Papyrus shouted, egging his brother to join him in searching with a quick tug of his arm. When Sans didn't move he bent over to his skull, whispering. "She'll probably tell us when she wants to. But don't worry about it right now."

Sans huffed, but allowed Papyrus to pull him away after a few more tugs. They started to look in the nearest garbage hill when a familiar voice rang through the dump. "Sans! Papyrus!"

"Uncle Gaster!" Papyrus, who had stuck his skull into a small hole in a hill, threw his skull back up only to have a wet stack of papers get stuck to the top of his head. Sans snickered at the scene as Papyrus felt the paper flutter in front of his eyes. "Huh?"

While Papyrus dealt with peeling the soggy papers off of his head, Sans trudged out from behind the hill to notice Gaster wading his way through the water. He eyed the columns of garbage lightly before smiling when he noticed Sans. "There you are. Where's Papyrus?"

"Over here!" Papyrus lunged his way out from behind the hill, some of the papers were still stuck to his skull which blocked his eyesight, and thanks to gravity he soon found himself on a one way trip back into the water.

Sans had to clutch his rib cage from laughing so hard, watching Papyrus flounder in the cold water for a few seconds before finally ripping the paper off of his skull and throwing it into the water. Gaster cocked an eyebrow, his smile still evident. "Having fun down there?"

"Uh…" Papyrus stared blankly at Gaster, but soon frowned when he was made known of Sans' laughter. He narrowed his eye sockets, a grin forming on his face as he leapt up out of the water and rushed over to Sans. "Your turn!"

"Now, now." Gaster spoke, lifting his arms to the side of him as he watched Sans hide behind his body, grasping at his black pants.

Papyrus stopped in front of Gaster, contemplating which way to take on his brother, who stared at him between Gaster's legs with a huge grin just as he felt Gaster touch his back. He looked up to see his authoritative glance, and with a defeated groan he let Sans go for the moment.

He smiled. "So, did you two find anything cool?"

Trying to ignore Sans' cocky grin, Papyrus innocently smiled up to his Uncle. "Yeah! I found this super weird car, and we made a friend!"

"Oh? A friend?" Gaster lightly teased, his voice playful as if they were playing a fun game. "Is it another action figure?"

Papyrus shook his head. "Nope! Her name was Alphys, and-!"

"Alphys?" Papyrus caught his voice when Gaster cut him off. His tone had gone back to normal, his smile fading away as he stood tall and glanced around the dump. Sans let go of Gaster's pants when he strode forward, glancing at nearby piles of garbage.

Papyrus heard Sans come up behind him, one another turning their skulls to the other in confusion. It was then they both realized that Alphys wasn't near the 'bicycle' any longer. "Uncle Gaster, is something-?"

"Alphys." Gaster called out in a serious tone. Papyrus and Sans flinched to hear his voice bounce off the stone walls from afar, before the sound of splashing water interrupted the growing silence.

Alphys wormed her way out from behind one of the hills, her body a bunch of nerves as she stared up at Gaster. "H-Hi, Dr. Gaster!"

She kept her distance from the tall skeleton, who regarded her with a slight nod of the head. "Good Morning, Alphys. What are you doing here in the dump?"

"Y-You know me, D-Dr. Gaster." Alphys tapped her claws together. "J-Just seeing if anything new fell down…"

An uneasy silence blossomed between the two of them, one Sans and Papyrus could feel waft up their bones. Papyrus glanced at Sans in concern but didn't voice it, it seemed as though Gaster wanted to say something but couldn't.

Unable to take the silence any longer, Sans trudged over to Gaster, pointing at the 'bicycle' which was now starting to sink back into the water. "Paps and I found that bicycle, Uncle Gaster. Alphys said she'd even fix it for us."

"O-Oh, yes!" Alphys latched onto the life-raft of words Sans threw to her, taking a moment to readjust her glasses on her snout. She looked over to it, noticed it was sinking and with a gasp lurched over and grabbed it.

She pulled it back up and placed it on the hill, making sure it was secure before letting go. "I-It wouldn't be a problem to f-fix it! They can even r-ride it when it's finished."

She averted her gaze, her voice growing soft. "I-If that's ok with you, I mean…"

Gaster lightly hummed, staring at the bicycle for a second before down at where Sans stood. He decided to grab onto Gaster's pant leg again. "Please, Uncle Gaster?"

Sans turned his skull over to Papyrus, who hadn't moved since Sans left him. His grin became staler as he urged Papyrus over to help, who soon got the memo and bounded over to grab Gaster's other pant leg. "Pleeeeeaaaase?"

Gaster watched the two squirm beside him, repeating the mantra of 'please' but continuing to lengthen it each and every time. He finally sighed and shook his head. "I guess it wouldn't hurt."

He smiled when Sans and Papyrus both shouted in excitement, turning his skull back to Alphys, who hunched in response. "This won't be a problem for you, will it?"

"Problem?" Alphys snorted, losing some of her nervousness for the moment with confidence. "I-I could do this blind-folded with p-plastic tools! It's no problem, D-Dr. Gaster."

"Well, you have my thanks." He tapped on Sans' and Papyrus' skulls to get their attention. "What do we say?"

Sans was about to speak but Papyrus was a little faster on the draw, his smile beaming as he looked upon Alphys. "Thank you!"

"Yeah, thanks." Sans shyly grinned from being upstaged by Papyrus.

Alphys blushed once more, turning her head to the side. "O-Oh, you're welcome…"

"We're heading to Hotland if you want to come and deposit the vehicle in the lab." Gaster invited, seeing as though Papyrus was now hugging Sans from being over excited. Sans' little laughs wafted up to his skull.

"O-Oh, that's ok." Alphys declined, tapping her claws together again. "I-I'm going to explore some more before h-heading to the lab."

"Suit yourself." With a quick call of their names, Sans and Papyrus waddled behind Gaster in pursuit of dry land.

Sans took a moment however to stop and wave back at Alphys, who did so hesitantly in return. "B-Bye Sans! Bye Papyrus!"

"Bye Alphys!" Papyrus responded back, waving both of his arms in the air frantically. "We'll see you again soon!"

Gaster remained silent even after the three of them got back on land. He waited as he let Sans and Papyrus ring out their socks and the bottom half of their snow pants from the water sticking to them before crouching down and picking up a medium-sized paper bag that bulged with items.

Sans eyed the bag curiously as Gaster reached down for them. "Crab-apples?"

"Well, you wanted to be healthier, right?" Gaster teased, but when he lifted himself back up the playfulness dispersed away. He appeared to be contemplating something.

Walking out of the waterfalls of trash, Papyrus took to counting his steps behind Gaster, while Sans latched onto his idle hand to the side. He was beginning to wonder if Gaster was upset when, "Sans, Papyrus. What did Alphys say to you two?"

"Hm?" Papyrus paused for a moment, one leg lifted up from his careful counting before picking up the pace to continue alongside Gaster. "What do you mean?"

"I'm just curious. Did she say anything…unfamiliar?" The way he strained the last word caused Sans to grip his hand tighter.

Papyrus didn't seem to notice the rising tension or didn't care to. "Well, she told us what a bicycle was, and something called 'any-may.'"

"That all?" Gaster was quick to reply, as if he was looking for something else from the two. Sans contemplated the moment when Alphys tripped over her words, wondering what would happen if he told Gaster.

He turned to Papyrus for guidance, who was already staring at his brother. His smile had vanished for a serious look as he shook his head, as if he knew what Sans was thinking.

Sans frowned, biting his lower jaw as he shook his head. "Yeah, that's it."

"Hm, well then." Gaster spoke, though it was quiet and to himself than really to continue the conversation. He squeezed Sans' hand lightly, glancing down to give the two a soft smile. "Say, why don't we pick up a treat after getting the groceries, hm?"

"Wowie, treats and the dump?" Papyrus stared upwards with a star-struck stare, his grin returning to him once more. "This is the greatest day ever!"

Gaster lightly chuckled; breathing what Sans believed was a sigh of relief. "It's alright if we splurge once in awhile. That's what families do, you know."

Sans lowered his skull from staring up at Gaster to the boat with the Boatman once more. One of his fingers slid across Gaster's in his grip. "Yeah."

After another fun ride, though Papyrus and Sans were disappointed the legs didn't come back up, the three hopped off the boat, said thanks to the Boatman and started their trip into the increasingly hot Hotland.

Sans almost envied Papyrus now, who didn't have to wear his winter jacket since it had been torn. Even if he couldn't feel the heat, this didn't stop Sans from feeling beads of sweat pool on his forehead and trickle down his skull.

"You can take the coat off, Sans." Gaster calmly spoke when he noticed how uncomfortable Sans was when he walked. He was stiff with short strides.

Sans didn't waste any time in shedding his coat the moment Gaster gave him permission, tying it around his pelvis so it wouldn't fall off before catching a glimpse of Papyrus in his sight.

He seemed to have run ahead, stopping for a moment to signal the two over with the waving of his arms. "Come on, you two! Faster!"

Sans ignored Papyrus' cries to hurry up, turning his skull to notice the large, white block building to their right. From past trips to the Capital Sans and Papyrus were aware that that was where Gaster worked, though a new question was on Sans' mind. "Say, Uncle Gaster? Does Alphys work there too?"

"Hm?" Gaster glanced quickly at the lab before back at where Papyrus stood. His voice sound calm and calculated. "She does, occasionally. Sometimes she engages in projects from her own home."

"Will we be able to go in there one day?" Sans decided to ask, his fingers taught around Gaster's. "You, me and Papyrus?"

"Not today." Gaster was quick to respond, bringing his free hand up to grab at his lower jaw. "Though… maybe when you two are a little older."

Gaster did not look down to see the increasing grin on Sans face, as both were soon in the proximity of Papyrus who then ran off to lead the way once more. The three walked until they came upon a metal elevator, which Gaster allowed the two children to go in first before following behind.

Papyrus shifted his weight from foot to foot as he threw an arm into the air. "Can I press the buttons this time, Uncle Gaster?"

"Not this time, Papyrus." Gaster hummed, taking a moment to survey the three columns of buttons to the side of him. His fingers hovered near the buttons for a moment, then keyed in a specific code that caused the doors of the elevator to slam shut.

Gaster smiled down to Papyrus when the elevator lurched, signifying that it was moving. "But I wouldn't mind showing you how it's done next week."

Papyrus narrowed his eye sockets, pumping his fists to the side. "Yes! The Great Papyrus shall become the master of buttons!"

Sans chuckled. "So are you the master of buttons? Or the Great Papyrus?"

"Both!" Papyrus closed his eye sockets, pointing a bony finger upwards while puffing his chest out. "I shall be Master Papyrus, all knowledgeable in butt-ONS!"

Papyrus almost fell forward when the elevator came to the stop, causing him to shout the last part of his sentence before hobbling forward and regaining his balance. Sans chuckled some more before following his brother out, with Gaster being the last one to step out of the elevator.

Sans took a moment to stand beside his brother, who was going on about something though he wasn't paying close attention to hear him. Before the skeleton family extended buildings high into the dark grey sky that were packed close together for optimal business. Monsters of all shapes, sizes and beings crowded the large walkways through the city, where vendors had set up shop to sell all sorts of different items from their homes deeper into the Underground.

There was a monster draped from head to toe in thick fabrics, selling much of the same clothing she wore and nodded to potential customers. Two brothers, as they appeared, bopped up and down as they sung a song about their 'high-quality E-rows' while their tails worked to make some in the back of the stall. A young elephant girl only looked up from sewing a doll when the old female running their stall would show her off to other customers, which would cause her to blush. Screams from above caused civilians to duck when a giant, male bat monster almost dove into the ground, quickly regaining his flight with his wings as he desperately searched his mail bag for what appeared to be a forgotten letter.

"Stay close to me, you two." Gaster shouted over the hustle and bustle of the Capital, making sure they knew of his presence by tapping their backs. "And no running off!"

"Alright." Papyrus chirped, then happily took Sans' hand as he led him away from their spot at the elevator and into the daily life of the Capital. They melted into the vast array of monsters, a unified race.

Sans couldn't help his wandering eyes as Papyrus hummed a song to himself. His other hand grasped Gaster's to make sure they wouldn't get lost while Sans got lost in the sights. Beyond the tall scrapers Sans spotted the faint outline of what he believed was a path that encircled the city. When he asked Gaster the first time he spotted it, he told him that up there was the King's castle, where he would occasionally walk by and survey his city.

Sans was a little disappointed he saw no one standing on the walkway, like every other time they came. What was it like, to stand atop such a platform and stare down at the huge city that rustled with life underneath? It must have been quite a sight.

Sans hoped to be able to stand up there one day; just him, Papyrus and Gaster.

Yet something kept nagging at Sans the longer he stared at the sky. No, beyond the sky, to the wisps of black that dared to enter into the grey's domain. He couldn't place the feeling, but whenever he found himself just staring upwards without a thought, he felt…trapped. Like something wasn't right, like there was something beyond what he could see.

But, that couldn't be right; what could lie beyond the black sky? Possibly the heavens, but just how high did they stretch? All Sans knew was of a life surrounded by rock, but wasn't the whole world just the same? Wasn't _this_ the whole world?

Sans used his other hand to grasp his skull, groaning before angling it downward and at the sand road beneath his shoes. His skull hurt whenever he thought about that for long, trying to shake off the feeling as the sounds and monsters of the world rushed back to his senses.

Or really, Papyrus chattering about something.

"-and just think of all the places we can go when Alphys repairs that bicycle!" Papyrus eagerly smiled back at Sans, whose eye sockets widened before lightly blushing.

He faked a smile. "Y-Yeah, totally Papyrus."

Papyrus frowned for a moment, glancing at the sky above them. "You were thinking again, huh."

"Maybe." Sans softly spoke, almost being drowned out by the noises of other monsters in their daily conversations. He then quickly raised his skull up to Papyrus'. "I just think that maybe-!"

"Hey." Sans held back his ideas when Papyrus calmly spoke. He didn't look upset or overly excited, but calm and at peace.

It was rare when Papyrus was serious. "You think too much, Sans."

Sans bit his inner cheek bone, shrugging his shoulders. "Maybe you don't think enough."

Sans soon bumped into Papyrus, who originally bumped into Gaster when their fatherly figure halted. Sans backed up to give Papyrus room, about to ask what was wrong when two, shrieking sounds caught their attention. "Oh my goodness! There they are!"

From in front of Gaster two figures mirrored one another as they stepped around him, revealing themselves to be tall and intimidating spider ladies. Sans could feel his eye sockets widen as the two peered down at them like delectable treats, hands hovering above their skulls like they were ready to be picked.

The spider-lady on the right, whose brown curls were put up in a messy bun, wore an elegant, brown dress that ballooned at her waist and hid her feet. Her six hands wore dainty, brown gloves and her shoulders were covered by a short-sleeved jacket that coned around her neck. The other woman, whose black hair was straightened, wore a somewhat revealing, scarlet red ruffled top with the sleeves nothing but ruffles after the elbows. Skin-tight, black pants covered her legs and ended with some hideous, red pumps that were so high the fashion police would have cried upon sight of them. Atop her head was a long, black hat with little red balls dangling around the bottom rim.

"These are the little skeletons you've been hiding from us, hm?" The brown-haired spider turned her attention over to Gaster, who gazed at them uncomfortably.

"Oh, they're so precious~" The black-haired lady cooed, two of her hands reaching for their skulls.

Sans was about to duck his head when Papyrus suddenly slapped her hands away. The black-haired lady slightly hissed in anger, which melted into surprise when he slammed his right foot down and puffed out his chest, keeping Sans behind him and away from their hands.

He clapped three times all while stamping his foot to the beat before throwing his hands into the air, a serious look on his face. Sans had no clue what was going on or what even Papyrus was doing, eyes staring over at Gaster who seemed just as bewildered.

The two ladies eyed one another, a small smile sprouting on their face only to sway their hips in response. Four of their six arms started to snap to unheard music, twirling in their spot while their last two arms laced one after the other from their chest up to above their heads.

Papyrus responded by positioning his hands out in front of him, bopping to the snaps as the hands turned to face palm up, then move to the opposite elbow, up his head and then down his body before promptly turning to the side and doing it again. When Papyrus jumped and did the dance to Sans, he laughed to see the funny look on his face.

"What are you doing." Sans responded in a low, monotone voice.

"I don't know!" Papyrus chirped back, finishing his dance by throwing his arms into the air.

Both ladies stopped snapping, then giggled happily in response. "Oh, how cute!"

"He's a little dancer! And not bad to boot~" The brown-haired one replied, glancing back at Gaster again. "I didn't think you had a dancing bone in you, Wingdings~"

Gaster frowned. "I don't."

He then added with a mumble. "And it's Dr. Gaster, to you."

"What's all this then?" A loud, shrill voice cut through the crowd, causing the two ladies and Gaster to stiffen.

Sans cocked his head to the side to be able to see behind his brother, watching Gaster step left to reveal two more female spiders. The one before them was old yet stood tall with a figure of authority, wearing a bright purple shawl and a dark pink dress that covered her petite feet. Four of her six arms steadied themselves atop a bent and unpolished walking stick, looking more like a branch than a helpful walking tool. Dark brown hair fell down her back and off to the sides and her five eyes narrowed focused on Gaster.

A young companion stood to the side of her, wearing a cute pink sailor's outfit whilst pulling a red wagon behind her filled with brightly colored cupcakes. Her short black hair was done up in frilly bows.

"Mi-Miss Spinne." Gaster fumbled with his words, clutching the brown paper bag with his crab apples closer to his chest. He tried to crack a smile. "H-How are-"

"Now you listen here, you old bag of bones!" Miss Spinne caused a few by-passers to crane their necks over to their conversation, watching as the old spider woman marched her way over to Gaster.

She promptly used her walking stick to poke him in the ribcage. "I don't care how much gold you amounted in your time, I knew Harold longer than your family ever walked upon underground!"

"Huh?" Papyrus glanced to his brother, as if he expected him to know what was happening.

He soon got his answer when the brown-haired spider let out a deep sigh, moving over to the senile spider. She placed two of her hands on her shoulders, rubbing them lightly. "Gam-Gam, Wingdings wasn't talking about Gap-Gap~"

"Hush up, Charlotte, the adults are talking." Miss Spinne rudely removed Charlotte's hands off of her shoulders.

"Gam-Gam," The other spider lady sighed, moving to the other side of Miss Spinne and crouching down to allow her to gaze up at her. "Wingdings was saying hello~ He didn't mention Gap-Gap or gold~"

"What? He didn't?" Miss Spinne seemed genuinely confused, her eyes narrowing while the cogs tried to turn in her mind. She tapped her walking stick on the ground in a frustrated way. "Well then what does he want?"

"He was asking how you are~" Charlotte knowingly smiled up to Gaster, indicating him to continue.

He fumbled with his bag. "Uh, yes. How are you, Miss Spinne."

"I'd be a lot better if you got your sorry excuse for a skull out of my face!" Miss Spinne yelled, poking him again. "How dare you try and say your family is better than mine! We deserve that spot, we!"

"Gam-Gam~" The black-haired lady sighed, her frown evident. "Wingdings didn't say his family was better than ours~"

"But that's not true~" Charlotte lightly giggled, eyeing the two boys again before waving her hands at them.

Sans awkwardly waved back, glancing over to his brother when the sound of squeaky wheels caught both of their attention. While Gaster fumbled for a conversation with Miss Spinne, the youngest spider girl saw interest in the two and walked over.

Her smile was sincere, two of her hands behind her holding her wagon while the other four were clasped together out front. She swayed left to right. "Excuse me, dearies~ Would you like to buy a spider cupcake?"

"Spider cupcake?" Papyrus looked to the monster girl before walking past her and crouching down to look at the pastries.

Sans could see how big his eye sockets grew on what appeared to be perfect little cakes, decorated lovingly with purple icing with an intricate looking black web placed at an angle on the top. He happily looked back up to her. "Wowie, these look amazing! Did you make them?"

"Sure did~" The girl giggled, closing her eyes for a moment before opening them back up. "I only give my customers the best~"

Her smile pursed into a pout, glancing at her full tray of cupcakes. "Though they haven't been selling well today~ Gam-Gam is usually scaring monsters off~"

Sans nearly gasped when the girl's five eyes suddenly snapped onto him. Her smile curled upward, her eyes staring into his soul. "So, would you like to be my first customer? I would really appreciate it, Ahuhu~"

Sans felt the need to take a step back. "Um, w-we don't really have any gold."

"No gold?" The girl's smile fell completely, her eyes growing dim. "Well poo~ That doesn't help me at all~"

Papyrus lifted his skull up to glance at Sans, who felt pressured from both angles. He half-heartedly smiled. "Maybe I could buy one when I do have some gold."

"Really?" The girl's voice elevated, her face suddenly next to his. Sans grasped for something behind him to steady himself, while she seemed to enjoy leaning in. "Do you promise?"

"Sure?" Sans squeaked, just wanting to get this spider girl out of his face.

Her eyes smiled in sync with her lips, drawing away from Sans to stand tall. "Then it's a promise~ I look forward to when we can make business, Ahuhu~"

"Muffet!" Muffet hopped when she heard Miss Spinne screech her name. She whipped her head around before scurrying back behind her grandmother with her squeaky wagon in tow.

She smiled to Sans once more when she was beside her grandma, a sensation Sans couldn't say was spectacular. In Miss Spinne's hands was Papyrus' ripped coat, to which she surveyed it curiously before back at Gaster. "Let me get this straight. You want me to fix this, right?"

"Yes, Miss Spinne." Gaster wheezed, as if the conversation the adults had been having was much more tedious and excruciating than the children's. He looked ready to pass out. "I hope it's not too much trouble."

"Bah, I could do this in a few hours!" Miss Spinne proclaimed, then leaned in with a wheezy chuckle, "But I won't. You can pick it up when you go shopping next week."

Gaster slumped his back and let out a sigh of relief, his smile returning to him. "Thank you, Miss Spinne."

"Yeah, thanks!" Papyrus proclaimed, though he dropped his smile when Miss Spinne let out a shrill yelp.

She leaned back from Papyrus and Sans, who moved to stand near one another. "The skeletons are multiplying!"

She then angrily turned back to Gaster, using her cane once more to poke him. "You player, Wingdings! Trying to show up my family again, huh? Well I can beat you at anything you throw at me, just try it! We deserve that spot, not you!"

"Gam-Gam..." Charlotte droned, looking sympathetic to Gaster and the skelebros. "We'll see to it that the coat is fixed~ Have a good day, you three~"

"Goodbye Charlotte, Volare." Gaster said in a monotonic tone, crouching down a little to see Muffet. "Goodbye, Muffet."

"Goodbye, Mr. Gaster." Muffet lightly giggled, trotting behind her two older sisters as they forcefully started to move their grandma back down the road they came.

"Come on, Gam-Gam~ It's almost time for your meds~"

"I don't need any meds or this stupid cane! I need to show that nerd whose boss around here! Let go of me, you stupid girls!"

"They seem like a swell family!" Papyrus commented, watching them for a little longer as they disappeared into the crowd before back at his brother.

Sans seemed a little unnerved, grinning nervously. "That's a family alright."

"And so are we." Sans wasn't expecting to feel Gaster's hand behind him, who was now crouching beside the two. He gave them a fatherly smile before standing back up, ushering them to continue. "Now we've wasted too much time. Let's get the groceries and head home."

"And then I can finish my snowman?" Papyrus asked, taking Sans' hand again as he reached for Gaster's.

Gaster allowed him to grab hold of his hand, lightly chuckling. "And then you can finish your snowman."

"Yes! The Great Papyrus shan't waste another second! Let's go!" And with that Papyrus tugged on Sans to start following, who did so without a struggle.

He just smiled to feel his brother's hand in his own, though he couldn't help but stare back up at the sky once more. Just what did those heavens hide?

* * *

 **Spring break is here guys! (At least for my school, heh) So no update next week as I'm going to be seeing my dad and trying to relax from the hectic school semester. This will also give me a chance to catch up because I've been barely scrapping by with updates.**

 **I hope you guys have a wonderful week, whether you have it off or not!**


	4. Level -4

**Level -4**

"He's almost here, Sans!"

Sans almost startled himself down into the snow when Papyrus eagerly whispered over to him. He had forgotten that he was outside yet again with his older brother, who for the moment was finishing his new snowman by the house. Sans' old rock was replaced with a sad, bigger lump, but Sans got out of Papyrus' rant by saying it was a goo monster.

"Huh?" Sans blinked, remembering what Papyrus said before nodding his head. "Oh yeah, right."

"Daydreaming?" Papyrus asked, poking his head out from behind his snowman. While Papyrus admittedly had no idea what their King looked like, the sculpture that he ended up creating resembled that of his snow warrior, just bigger and with more muscle.

He eyed his brother, who leaned himself on the side of their house. "I bet you're imaging the eventual meeting we'll have, right?"

"Er, sort of." Sans' frowned, his skull digging into his winter jacket.

Since Papyrus' was ripped he wore a spare jacket Gaster had lying around for him, composed of bright, ridiculous colors they found in the dump a few weeks ago. "What if the King is mean? Or what if he expects something out of us?"

"Uncle Gaster said he was kind to all his subjects." Papyrus calmly replied, crouching down to pick up some more snow only to pack it onto the back of his sculpture. "I bet he's super nice and friendly!"

"I hope so." Sans replied, taking a moment to stare at his snow-ridden boots before back up at his brother.

Sans shifted his weight uncomfortably from one foot to the other, trying to calm his frantic thinking. This was the first time they were going to meet the King, _their_ King. The one who governed over them, the one who had absolute law and say in what would transpire over the kingdom. What species was he? Was he short or tall? Fat or skinny? Did he come here voluntarily, or did he have plans for the two of them?

Sans' fingers tightened when he started picturing scenarios in his skull, ones where Papyrus and him were dragged off and forced into the Royal Guard, or used as lab rats for horrible experiments.

"Sans!" Sans was pulled from his thoughts when Papyrus suddenly ran out from behind his snow man. "I think that's him!"

"Really?" Sans gasped, suddenly afraid to leave the side of the house he hid behind.

Papyrus noticed him flinch backwards and snatched his hand, pulling him out before he could hide. "Sans, this is no time for hide and seek!"

Being dragged out into the snow, Sans felt like he was standing outside naked. He became aware of the figure that slowly trudged through the snow, growing taller as each step brought him closer to their abode. Papyrus allowed his jaw to drop open in surprise and excitement, while Sans couldn't figure out if he was amazed or terrified.

The figure before them was no skeleton; he was a large and proud humanoid goat monster. His fur was as white as the snow that crunched beneath his bare feet, his hands free of any gloves as his fur was insulated enough to keep him warm. A large, dark purple cloak was draped around his form to conceal his body from the two children, as well as to keep the biting air away from his center. A golden necklace hung from his neck which bared the Delta Rune, their emblem.

A pair of long horns curled upwards from the King's head, where a simple, golden crown took residence that symbolized his authority. Two long ears drooped off the side of the King's head, and long, blonde hair fell down his back neck, sides and came together at the front of his face for a magnificent beard. But the eyes said all that Sans needed to know about who this King was.

Though tall as he was, his eyes were easy to see and told a story. They were wise and regretful, happy and sad, but most of all, they were content. The eyes of a ruler and yet….Sans couldn't help but see something else when the King stopped before the two.

They were lined with guilt.

Sadly the King sprouted a warm smile. "Howdy. Are you two having fun in the snow?" His voice was deep and slow like gravel, yet it also couldn't have been softer in its tone.

"Are you the King?" Papyrus loudly whispered for some reason, which Sans took as his excitement getting to him.

The King nodded his head, then crouched down to get on one knee. One of his white, fur-lined paws outstretched from the purple cloak, awaiting for their hands. "My name is Asgore Dreemurr. It's very nice to finally meet you two."

Papyrus glanced to Sans rapidly before placing his hand into Asgore's big one for a nice handshake. Before doing so Asgore was a little surprised Papyrus started rubbing his fur, only for him to gasp and look back to his brother. "Sans, the King's fur is very soft! He is King Fluffybuns!"

King Asgore looked perplexed for a moment before he dipped into a low chuckle. "I haven't heard that name in awhile."

His hand closed tenderly around Papyrus', the King's eyes glassy as if he were remembering something long ago. When his eyes cleared over they shifted to Sans, giving him a warm embrace while outstretching his other hand. "Would you like to feel my fur too?"

Sans eyed his brother curiously, who nodded his skull so fast he wondered if it would pop off. Giving a sheepish grin, he placed his boney hand into the King's.

Suddenly Sans felt himself in a new place entirely, a room encased in ever shifting and quaking bones. He stood atop of something that jerked violently. The same softness he felt just a second ago swatted him down, causing him to fall backwards and almost hit the ground. Something rose from the bone-laden ground to catch Sans, which he realized what a wave of bones.

King Asgore staggered back to his feet, head hanging low as Sans was treated to a glimpse of what lied beyond the purple cloak. It was a set of gold armor, but more particularly his eyes gazed at the knife that embedded itself where the heart would have lied beneath the metal. With a rough jerk Asgore removed the knife from his chest plate, throwing it behind him and giving Sans his attention.

Those warm eyes from earlier were gone now, replaced with a slight hint of fear and anger. "That is enough! I won't-!"

But the rest of the sentence Asgore shouted was suddenly deaf to Sans. A loud, ringing noise encased the whole room, causing Sans to grip his skull in pain and fear.

Staring back up, Sans was horrified at the image of Asgore now. Huge, distorted blocks of white hid several parts of him, his eyes engulfed in white as his mouth moved with no clear indication of what it was saying.

There was something behind the King. Something unfamiliar. Sans tried to stare past the terrifying state of his King over to whatever was in the room, wondering if he should call out. "H-Hello?"

A brown leg stuck out from the hungry darkness that had eaten the rest of the form, topped off with a dirty and somewhat broken shoe. Sans tried to get up but found himself unable when the bones, that at first held him up, now melted and pooled beneath his form.

Sans let out a shriek of fear as he tugged on his arms to free himself, only to realize he wasn't wearing his snow jacket or anything from before. Now he wore a giant, brown T-shirt that was too many sizes too big, black pants and tennis shoes, all that looked to be in a sad and dismal state. The large, dark red spot on the shirt grabbed Sans' attention the most, to which he wondered what it was.

Sans could have stared longer at the stain, if not for the fact that he realized the King was suddenly hobbling towards him. Sans gasped and tried to push himself away, only for his hands to slip in the boney goop and hit his skull on the ground.

Desperately clinging to any safety Sans threw his hands up into the air, shutting his eye sockets and screaming. "No, get away! Don't hurt me!"

"SANS!"

Sans didn't know what was happening until he felt his boots catch something behind him. He fell backwards and into the snow, his skull tilted upwards to see the ever-same black sky before that image was replaced with Papyrus' skull.

He seemed genuinely concerned. "Sans, what's wrong?"

"H-huh?" Sans whispered, noticing that a few blue tears stained the side of his eye sockets. He feverishly wiped them away, slowly sitting up to see his house beside him and the rest of Snowdin.

Sans took a moment to blink his eye sockets, confused and still scared of what he just saw. "I…I don't know."

"Oh dear…" Sans flinched when he heard Asgore's voice, noticing the King standing just a few feet away from him. Sans instinctively leaned closer to Papyrus, a quick whine escaping his boney teeth while Papyrus continued to stare at him.

His jaw closed. "Sans, you're ok." To show him what he meant was true; Papyrus extended his hands and helped Sans up and into a hug.

Sans wasn't expecting the show of affection, but didn't deny himself the act of hugging his brother back. The door opened quickly as Gaster stepped outside, concerned for a moment until he noticed Asgore nearby. He stood up straight, hands suddenly fumbling for the door handle. "Oh, your Majesty. We-"

He let go of the doorknob, fist clenched near his jaw like he was trying to clear his nonexistent throat. "I wasn't expecting you so early."

Asgore simply smiled, stepping a foot back to allow Gaster some more space. "I left the castle earlier than I thought."

Gaster flashed a light smile back before his eyes skidded over to Sans in Papyrus' arms. A small wave of confusion passed through Gaster's skull, but when he took into account Asgore again his eye sockets dared to leap off of his head. "Sans, was that you earlier?"

"I think the King scared him." Papyrus spoke, checking on his younger brother who moved himself out of his hug.

"Maybe this is a bad time." Asgore nervously shifted his weight, eyes glancing behind him for the path back to the Waterfall. "It might be too soon."

"N-No!" Sans suddenly blurted out. Asgore and Gaster seemed to be taken aback when his voice was raised, toning it back down.

He could feel his cheekbones flush light blue. "I-I just had a weird vision, that's all. Please, we've been looking forward to this all day…"

He lifted his skull, feeling uncomfortable as he flashed a fake grin. It didn't feel right, and yet it was strangely familiar. "You know me, always thinking. I-I guess one of my daydreams finally got to me…"

Papyrus eyed Sans questionably, which meant to Sans that this conversation wasn't over but simply delayed.

Asgore nervously pulled his hands back inside his cloak. "What did you exactly see?"

The way Gaster had his eyes on Sans told the young monster that he too, was very interested to know. But the constant gaze of the two high authoritarian monsters made Sans shift back nervously. The last thing he wanted to do was relive that moment by talking about it. "It's complicated…I really don't feel like bringing it back up."

Gaster closed his jaw in a contemplative way before glancing back over to Asgore, who acted as if he just burned their house down. "Well… I really don't want to cause anymore harm. I am perfectly fine dela-"

"You heard the young monster." Gaster forced himself into the conversation, as if to push Sans and Papyrus out of the fire. "We'd be honored to have you still for dinner, your majesty."

To show a sign of peace Sans smiled sincerely to the King. Asgore kept his mouth slightly open before it relaxed into a smile, nodding his head. "Then I would be happy to stay."

"Alright!" Papyrus suddenly shouted.

Like throwing a wrench into this high-tension situation, the feelings vanished for light innocence once more. He hopped over to where King Asgore stood, puffing out his chest and throwing his arms over to where his recently completed snowman was. "In honor of your arrival, your Majesty, I, the Great Papyrus, have sculpted your likeness in all its brilliance from snow!"

He hunched his shoulders forward, voice growing weak. "That is to say if you uh, were a skeleton like us…"

"That's me?" Asgore asked, taking a moment to stare at the work of snow before down at Papyrus, who was suddenly blushing orange.

His blush worsened when Asgore chuckled, moving one hand through his cloak to tap Papyrus on the back. "Too bad I'm not a skeleton then. If I was one, then you would be spot on."

"Seriously?" Papyrus swiveled to gaze up at Asgore for a defining answer.

When the King nodded his head he nearly hopped a foot in the air, rushing back over to take Sans' hands. "Wowie! Did you hear that Sans? Not only is the Great Papyrus great at sculpting, but I'm also great at pin-pointing alternate universe counterparts!"

Proud and happy, Papyrus glanced at his snowman again. "I think I'll call it… an AUC! Nyeh heh heh!"

Sans didn't jump along with Papyrus, but he did share his same smile. This wasn't at all how he pictured first meeting with their King to have gone, in fact it was nothing he could have guessed. But while the haunting image of what he just saw still tickled his fancy, for the moment he was willing to let it go and enjoy the moment.

After another half hour of playing in the snow while Gaster and Asgore talked of something inside, the two were called in to wash up and get ready for dinner. When Papyrus saw the table decorated with plates of spaghetti he practically speed-run his way through washing his hands and flying into his seat. Sans lagged behind a bit but was thankful no odd meats lingered in their tomato sauce.

Papyrus probably would have gone head-first into his plate if Gaster didn't stop him, telling him that they needed to talk about something first. An odd looking cup sat just to the right of their plate, filled with a steamy, light-yellow liquid.

"It's Golden Flower tea." Gaster calmly responded to Sans' and Papyrus' odd stares at the brew.

The vase of golden flowers had been moved to the kitchen so that they weren't blocking the sight of Asgore, who already had the cup in his big hands. "One of my favorites, actually."

"Golden Flower tea?" Papyrus inquired, tempted to stick his finger into the brew which he eventually did. He watched the tea drip back into the cup. "So there are flowers in this?"

"No, no." Asgore half-heartedly chuckled. "Eating Golden Flowers wouldn't be too good of an idea. Or any flower, really." His smile twitched while his eyes stared off into the distance like an old memory decided to greet him once more.

"Tea is simply a concoction of hot water brewed with herbs and tea leaves. The leaves infuse the water with their taste and aroma without leaving anything harmful that the original leaf might pass onto the recipient if they decided to digest it." Gaster absent-mindedly picked up his cup, taking a sip along with Asgore.

He kept his cup in one hand, eyeing the two skelebros. "I don't expect you two to appreciate such a brew, but you're welcome to try it."

"Hmmm, leaf-juice tea…." Papyrus eyed the cup suspiciously, then decided to push it away. "Doesn't sound very good."

"That's alright." Asgore offered to take Papyrus' cup, which he gladly handed over. The King happily put the cup next to his other one. "I didn't have a bold sense of trying new things when I was your age either."

"I want to try it." Sans spoke up, grabbing the cup from the side as he didn't know how the handle really worked. The rest of the occupants at the table quizzically stared at Sans as he took a large gulp before doubling over and coughing it back into his cup. "Hot!"

"It is steaming." Gaster said dead-panned, watching as Sans shakily put it back on the little plate it came with. Even though he himself couldn't experience heat, that didn't mean his tongue couldn't.

"I-I think I'll let it cool." Sans choked, hearing the sound of silverware tapping the plate.

He looked back up to see Papyrus rather impatient, tapping his other hand on the table. He hungrily looked at his pasta before over to Gaster. "Uncle Gaster, can we eat now?"

"Not yet, Papyrus." Gaster brought out his authority tone. "I won't be able to get you to stop if I say so."

Papyrus frowned, placing his elbow on the table like an impatient child. "So what are we going to talk about then?"

"Well…" Gaster hummed, glancing over to Asgore, who seemed just as nervous. With that reassurance Gaster sighed. "There are some things we wish to tell you two. About yourself and… the Underground."

"What about them?" Sans started, a little confused on where the conversation was going.

Papyrus, however reeled back in his chair when a thought struck him, eyes solely on Sans. "What if we have super powers, Sans?"

"You're not far off." Asgore hummed, which garnered the attention of both.

Sans narrowed his eye sockets while Papyrus let out a delighted squeak. "We do have super powers?!"

"Not super powers." Gaster finished, turning their hungry attention over to him. "Remember earlier today, how those two bunny girls were able to make a giant dragon out of rock?"

"Yeah!" Papyrus chirped, his delight soon leaving him like a cold breeze. "That fall was not very fun though."

"Well, what those girls did was magic." Gaster folded his hands together, closing his eye sockets. Sans teacup was engulfed in a blue hue as it gently floated into the air. "You've seen me perform magic as well."

Setting the cup back down, Gaster opened his eye sockets again. Sans placed one of his hands on the table. "Magic isn't new to us, Uncle Gaster."

"I know it isn't." Gaster calmly replied, a smile spreading on his face. "But I bet you two didn't know that you could do it yourself, did you."

The thought pierced through Sans and Papyrus' skulls, causing them to turn to one another in shock before rapidly back at Gaster. They talked in unison. "We can?"

Gaster happily hummed. "Of course you can. All monsters are born with magic, and it is a part of our being."

"So we can do magic all this time?" Papyrus asked bewildered, suddenly interested in his hands as he threw them into the air. "Magic!"

Asgore got a light chuckle out of Papyrus flailing his arms through the air to try and disperse some of this 'magic', but Sans didn't show his enthusiasm outwardly. Inside his whole body buzzed with delight and energy, unable to help staring at his hands as well.

A grin sprouted on his boney teeth, growing at the thought of being able to do all kinds of things. Could he fly? Could he levitate or control the trees or morph his appearance?

His skull started to shift back to the horrid scene he had lived earlier, his thoughts entertaining the white bones that he saw all around that miserable room. He lightly shuddered before pushing said thoughts down inside of him, feeling guilty if he said what he was thinking and alarmed anyone again. This was a happy moment; he didn't want to ruin it with his fright.

"Magic takes a little more practice then just flailing your arms." Gaster tapped Papyrus' shoulders, gaining his attention as he set his arms back down. "But since you two are growing older, we thought it best if you two learned how to control your powers while you're still young for the betterment of your future."

"Are you going to teach us too?" Sans asked Asgore, placing his hands on his lap for the time being.

"I'm afraid we won't share the same powers." Asgore took another sip of his tea, emanating an aura of safety and calm the more Sans took in the atmosphere. "But the castle has plenty of large rooms for you two to practice in that I'm willing to offer for teaching purposes."

"Which is most generous of you, your Majesty." Gaster bowed his head in thankfulness. "Tomorrow we'll start with the basics, and when you two are showing signs of casting your magic we'll head to the Castle to practice there."

The smile Gaster proudly wore to fade away, his mood changing in tone. Sans could already feel that the next thing Gaster wanted to say wasn't a happy one. "There's something else you two should know."

Papyrus happily turned his skull up. "Yeah?"

Gaster tapped a few fingers on the table, and it was then that Sans realized Asgore matched Gaster's tone. It was Asgore who spoke first however, much to the surprise of Gaster. "There is another species out there besides ours. In fact, there's another world just above ours, a lush world filled with soft grass, strong trees, and a blue sky."

Asgore seemed melancholy as he spoke of this world, but it didn't register to either of the boys. They eagerly turned their skulls to one another, not sure of some of the words Asgore said, but the way he described this foreign land was exciting enough.

"Like above our house?" Sans absentmindedly asked. When Asgore nodded his head his thoughts turned to wild fire. He knew it! He knew there was something beyond that black abyss!

"It's above everyone's houses." Gaster poked his voice into the conversation, taking his teacup to sip its brew. "Our world is but a small fraction of theirs. It is nearly a thousand times bigger than our world."

"A thousand?!" Papyrus slammed his hands on the table, standing in his chair with awe and wonder. "That's like…"

His skull scrunched up as he lifted his hands up, counting on his fingers for a second before giving up. "Well, that's bigger than ten!"

"It's definitely bigger than ten." Gaster mused, making a mental note to one day teach Papyrus higher counting.

The simple smile on his face vanished when Papyrus bounced in his seat. "Why are we sitting here? Let's go to this world!"

Sans excitedly bopped his head as well, ready to jump out of his seat on this adventure to this other world. Forget dinner, this was way more important!

However before the two could race out of their chairs and over to the coat-hanger Gaster's sharp voice cut through them. "We can't."

Papyrus and Sans stood still in their pursuit out of the chair. Sans slowly slid back into his seat, looking up to Gaster. "Why can't we?"

"Is it because it's too late?" Papyrus chimed in, though he still held onto the back and one of the arms of the chair, ready to bolt to the door if he got the indication that they were leaving.

Asgore's tea cup clanked loudly when it was set down, causing the two skeleboys to look in his direction. His face was pained. "We are not allowed to. We're trapped down here."

"Trapped?" Sans' grin stretched uncomfortably, skull swiveling back over to Gaster, hoping he would speak up and say that wasn't true.

Papyrus also seemed genuinely confused; his hands slowly sliding him back down into his seat. "What do you mean…we're trapped?"

Gaster shifted nervously in his seat. It looked as though he was afraid to say what came next, but he gained the courage to do so anyways. "A long time ago, us Monster used to live on the surface with the other species peacefully. They became scared of our power over time and a war broke out…"

He gingerly gazed at Papyrus and Sans, who seemed more confused and upset than angry. "The other species won, and we were led down into the mountain that we still reside under to this day; Mt. Ebott."

Sans' could hear the pain in Gaster's tone, eyes glancing over to Asgore who painfully stared at his almost empty cup. His grin thinned. "Why don't we just leave then?"

"A barrier keeps us inside this mountain." Asgore suddenly spoke, almost frightening Sans. "Its magic cannot be broken by any monster magic. Only seven souls can break the seal…"

Asgore left his lips to dangle before closing them, but Sans understood that he was keeping the rest of the sentence from them. His hands gripped the table cloth while his eyes stared at the pasta though his thoughts cut straight through it. They were…trapped? There was a whole other world just above theirs but they couldn't reach it?

"Was it the humans?"

Asgore and Gaster snapped to attention at the hushed murmur. Sans was the one who spoke, his little fingers gripping the table cloth tighter. He didn't lift his skull to see what faces they made. "I've been reading books…all about humans… are they the species that trapped us here…?"

For a moment, silence heavily fogged the atmosphere. Then, Asgore's voice could be heard. "Yes. It was the humans that forced us down here."

Papyrus bit his lower jaw, staring hard at his brother before ultimately pushing his chair away from the table. He got up out of his seat, noticing Gaster open his jaw to speak. Papyrus spoke quicker. "I'm not hungry anymore, Uncle Gaster."

He walked around the table, stopping where Sans hung his skull. "Are you hungry, Sans?"

"No." Sans was quick to speak, shifting his skull to look at Papyrus. He wore a bitter-sweet smile, pulling back Sans' chair to allow him out before staring at both Gaster and Asgore.

His smile shifted to that of a happier tone. "Uh, I think we're going to head to bed early. It was very nice to meet you, your highness!"

Asgore gave a pained smile back, eyebrows falling. "We do not mean to harm you with this knowledge. But you must know what has happened."

"Yes, we're only telling you this to help prepare you for the future." Gaster quickly added, though Papyrus and Sans didn't stick along longer than they were needed. With simple goodnights the two climbed the stairs in silence before reaching their bedroom door.

Papyrus was the one to close it from behind as Sans just stopped a few feet into the room, skull still hanging down. Papyrus hesitantly moved his hand away from the doorknob, stepping over to his brother. "Hey, it's going to be ok."

"Ok?" Sans' voice rose, stamping a foot on the ground as he turned to his brother. "Things are not ok! We're trapped down here! The humans…they did this to us!"

Papyrus lifted his hands in defense, not trying to match his brother in anger. "I bet they had a good reason to."

"A good reason?" Sans snapped, his hands curling into shaking fists. He didn't know how long it had been since he felt this angry, or why. "What good reason could they have had from barring us from the rest of the world? Our world?!"

"I don't know!" Papyrus suddenly shouted, though he placed a hand to his jaw when he realized the volume of his voice.

Sans stared at him quizzically as Papyrus lowered his volume. "I don't know, but we can't get angry over this. We don't know the big picture."

"The big picture?" Sans snorted, his grin mirroring his anger. "Since when did you stop to look at the big picture?"

Papyrus clenched his hands, a little flustered at the comment. "What do you mean by that?"

Sans had to hold himself back from going any further, instead deciding to focus on the hurt that started to appear in Papyrus' eyes. He backed down mentally and physically, lowering his skull.

He lightly clutched his elbow. "Sorry."

Papyrus allowed his fingers to loosen as he pulled his brother into a tight hug. Sans lifted his skull only to place it on his brother's shoulder, wrapping his arms around him. He was scared; like a child wandering into a new land without any guidance. A whole new world of knowledge opened up at his fingertips, and yet he realized he didn't want to know about that opportunity.

"We'll get out of here, Sans." Papyrus spoke, to which Sans just continued to stare at Papyrus' side of the room, allowing him to continue. "The humans can't be mad at monsters forever. Someday they'll want us back, and then we can go see this new world. Together."

"What if they don't?" Sans absentmindedly asked, his mouth buried into his brother's chest.

"They will." Papyrus was almost assertive in his reassurance, nestling his skull atop of his with a simple tock.

"They will."

Sans stood before a blanket of black, turning his body slowly only to realize that this blanket was draped all around him. He had gone to bed shortly after him and Papyrus casually talked about what powers they might have after their heavy conversation. Usually he dreamed of silly things, but never had he had a dream this empty.

"Hello?" Sans called out, flinching when his voice echoed loudly then slowly faded away with small echoes. He took a few steps, then paused as he was unsure of where he was going.

The rattling of chains caught Sans' attention, causing him to whip his skull around at an alarming rate to the sound. They wavered in the distance before gaining volume, growing louder with each prominent step.

The blanket distorted to shape around the oncoming noise, silhouetting their frame before coming into view. This creature was one Sans had never seen before in his life, yet they seemed as much of a child as he was. The monster was not a skeleton, yet he bared no scales or fur like any other humanoid monster he had seen. They were draped in something else, something smooth and bronze in color but Sans had no word for what it was. They didn't have a snout of any kind, just a small bump where Sans had the hole in his skull, and this monster was grateful enough to have a mat of black hair atop his head. They wore clothing, much like everyone else yet the articles he wore were torn, slashed, baggy and drenched in an unfamiliar liquid.

Sans quickly realized that the clothing this creature was wearing was the same one he had worn in his vision.

Long, grey tethers of string were wrapped tightly around his arms and legs, baring the same liquid from the clothes on parts of the string and the clothing where the string wrapped around it. The string disappeared off into the background, hovering in the air.

But the most frightening thing about this creature? It's unhealthy and eerie grin.

Brown and blue eyes stared intently at Sans, and for a moment this terrifying creature let out a sigh of relief. "There you are…"

The voice was deep for someone so young and so tired. The creature raised a shaky arm, palm opened upward as life sparked above its hand. From the darkness a ball of small, bright light came into existence, with Sans having to hold up an arm to block the new light.

The creature seemed pleased to hold it in its hand, then gestured it out to Sans. "Here."

Sans lowered one of his arms, staring intently at the ball of light. He did not know what it was, but upon looking at the creature once more such light only brought out the more terrifying features of this monster.

Sans backed up at an alarming rate, shaking his skull considerably. "No, I don't want it!"

The creature brought back its arm, frowning before moving forward at a quickened pace. The string behind him shook and rattled like chains. "You have to take it!"

"No, go away!" Sans pleaded, backing up even farther as the creature advanced towards him.

The monster took one more step before the string behind him became taught, pulling the monster back with a tug. The monster stumbled on one foot, eyes wide in horror as the string kept pulling him back. "No, you can't! I'm almost done!"

Fighting the strength of the string, Sans watched as the string on the monster's arms became tighter on its hold, causing it to scream in agony. The creature's foot gave out, causing it to fall forward while the light shattered on the ground. Letting out a petrified gasp, the string had no more resistance to quickly slide it back into the darkness. "No no no no NO!"

The monster screamed in fear and pain before disappearing entirely back to where it came. Its shrill cries of despair danced and slammed around the invisible walls of the domain, never quieting or dissipating. Sans shook from the experience, wandering what was going on before a familiar voice called his name.

Then he woke up.

* * *

 **I don't really know if I'm satisfied with this chapter, but I can't really think of anything to improve on it. At first I wasn't going to have Sans or Papyrus learn about the humans so quickly but I figured it would be nie impossible for Gaster to keep that information hidden from them what with the entire Underground knowing, so might as well let the cat out of the bag. Also a small shoutout to the HandPlates AU, which I believe is impossible to occur but I do like me some drama.**

 **Now I actually have an announcement I need to make and it's pretty big so please read this!**

 **I hate to say this but…Accepting Darkness won't have an update schedule. For now, at least!**

 **The reason I'm saying this is because I thought I could just do what I did last semester and write a little every day, but a lot of things in life have been getting in the way and I'm pretty spent or unmotivated to write by the time I finally do sit down to write. This chapter in itself took 2 and half weeks to write because I was constantly fighting myself to write it, and you might see some of that struggle in this chapter; it's not my best.**

 **No, this doesn't mean I'm abandoning it. I'm still want to write this story but I can't give you guys a weekly update anymore, not at the pace I'm going. So in order to help me relieve some pressure I'm going to take off the update schedule and hope that that helps me write some more. When I have enough chapters stockpiled and I feel like I can come back with an update schedule I will, but for now I can't tell you when the next chapter is coming.**

 **I would also like it if you guys didn't bug me about when the next chapter is coming or how you desperately want it right now. Comments like that can stress me out as well and believe me if I could I would give you guys this story as quickly as I could. But sadly good writing doesn't come in the fastest form or in one try.**

 **I feel very bad for all these delays and again I'm sorry, but if you guys want a decent story I need to do this. Until the next chapter though, I hope you guys enjoy this and I hope to get that second one-shot done sometime next month.**


	5. UPDATE NOT A NEW CHAPTER!

Hey everyone! Sorry if you thought this was going to be a new chapter, but I figured I should probably update you guys on what's going on.

So to be brutally honest no work has been done on Accepting Darkness. Finals are this week for me so no writing it getting done but that's not the reason why it's not being worked on.

The first is because I decided to pick back up an old story on Deviantart that I left hanging for over a year to hopefully try to finish. I think those guys have been waiting a little and I feel really bad that they had to wait so long.

The second reason is i'm trying to write my own book this summer. I'm going to be having a lot more free time this summer than I did last year so I'm going to take this opportunity to finally sit down and write out one of the original stories that's been going through my head for years now. I won't say what as i'm very paranoid about people stealing my ideas but hopefully I can get almost all of it done before summer ends and get it published before the year ends.

I haven't forgotten about Accepting Darkness and I do want to come back to it, but it might be a little longer than I had anticipated. In all honesty we could be looking at around a year. Until then if I find time and am in the mood I might post small one-shots about Undertale or the Skelebros until i'm ready to fully come back.

I'm also willing to answer any questions you guys might have had about Fading Light (to the extent that it won't reveal spoilers) whether it be the plot all the way to the developing process.

Again i'm sorry this is going to be longer than you guys wanted but this opportunity is too great to not take it. If I actually get the book published I'll definitely make sure to tell you guys. Until then, I hope you guys have questions to wet your bills and i'll see all you guys when I return!


	6. Regarding the future of the story

So this might be a good time to say something.

Hey everyone, it's been awhile huh? It's 2017 now, sheesh. The year flew by, and with it some things have changed and some haven't. I got a tutoring job this semester; I got to meet one of my online friends from another country during the summer; I even got to come up with another original idea (that I really should be working on).

I know in my last update I said that it might be a year before I come back to resume Accepting Darkness. And like I thought my inspiration for Undertale has been severely lacking since. To be honest, it was lacking even when I was writing it. The push backs were because I was either too busy or too focused on college and getting good grades then writing Sans and Papyrus sledding down a garbage hill. It was a struggle to even finish chapter 4.

I figured with the hiatus I might be able to step back, take a breath and come at it again with some new creativity, but I'm sorry to say but the well is still dry. I honestly don't know if the inspiration will ever come back.

So I wanted to say something instead of just leaving you guys on a cliff-hanger and just disappearing. For all the new people following and the ones who began with me, I just want to say thank you again for reading Fading Light and following me to Accepting Darkness. I know I keep saying this but it's crucial that you guys know that without your feedback this would have been dead in the water to begin with. Your love for the story kept me going, and while I don't know if I can continue I still want to thank you for putting up with everything I've thrown at you.

So what am I really saying? **Accepting Darkness will be going on an indefinite hiatus.** Unless I really find inspiration again and come back, I don't see myself hitting this story up like a steam train and finishing it. I'll still keep it up (since I'm petrified of people stealing it) but I will not be handing the story over to anyone to finish it, so please don't ask if you were interested in picking up the mantle and finishing the story.

Again, thank you for following me for so long, and I hope to hear you guys again if I do decide to write any small Undertale stories or other things.


End file.
